The Toe River Valley
Plan on visiting the Valley during the holidays. You can pick up a Xmas tree and discover the Studio Tour of artists and crafts folks. The mountains are crisp and the towns and villages welcoming. Note that I share specific businesses; there are many others. This is not paid advertising, just real places I know well.
Celebrate the holidays by picking out your own tree of any size. You won't get tired of it.
This studio tour is one of the oldest in the country and arguably the best.
Many studios are open to the public and welcome visitors. There are more glass artists here than the rest of America.
The main streets of the valley towns are like having a public living room.
Homeplace Beer Company brews sessionable farm-to-pint beers using lots of local ingredients from Yancey County and nearby.
There are a great selection of places to fill up after a day of enjoying the mountains. This is one.
Add Mt. Mitchell and the Blue Ridge Parkway to your list.