We visited Brevard as part of our Thanksgiving Mountains loop in November 2025. Read about our first Brevard visit in May 2025 here.

I had one primary goal for our second visit to Brevard: to spot a white squirrel! White squirrels are the mascot of Brevard, and since we didn’t get to see one our first trip, we came in with a strategy this time. You’d think it would be easy, as Brevard has been a squirrel sanctuary since 1986 and white squirrels make up a third of the local squirrel population…

Well, it wasn’t. J thinks the Chamber of Commerce made up the squirrels as a marketing campaign to bring in tourists. Some locals gave us tips: behind Cardinal Drive-In, at Looking Glass Falls and Sliding Rock, and at Brevard College. J would only agree to one wild squirrel chase, so we headed to Brevard College, since the city’s official squirrel page also mentioned that location.

Brevard College has a lovely campus, and is especially impressive when you learn that all those nice facilities are shared by fewer than 900 students. We had a lovely morning stroll and saw a hundred gray squirrels, but zero white squirrels. Next time it will happen!

Campground

Despite shunning the no-hookups NPS campgrounds near Townsend, we were excited to return to our bare-bones Forest Service campground in Brevard. Alas, the Davidson River Campground was closed for repairs when we tried to book, so we ended up at Pisgah Forest RV Park, and it was fantastic! Especially because the weather took a turn our first day and made us really appreciate being inside the cozy Airstream with power and water.

Our campsite was big and private, and we enjoyed the firepit before the cold front arrived. The campground is well-cared for and well-appointed, with friendly people and nice touches like a small vegetable garden, a dog park, and my favorite of the amenities: snacks in the common area, and local pastries on Saturday mornings! We weren’t there for pastry day… next time!

As I mentioned on our Townsend post, driving Newfound Gap Road through the national park wasn’t too bad with our 28ft Airstream. Also, it was gorgeous.

Hiking

Here are the hikes we were considering for our Brevard stay:

• 7-mile hike with views in Table Rock State Park, 45 minutes away
• 4-mile hike to the best (?) waterfall in South Carolina in Caesar’s Head State Park, 20 minutes away
• 4-mile hike along a creek to a waterfall, 20 minutes away, or a 6.7-mile version with an extra waterfall
• 5 miles with views 40 minutes away in South Carolina

While debating pros and cons, we realized we were camping very near two of our favorite Asheville hikes, both located in Pisgah National Forest. It had been several years since we’d hiked those trails, so we decided to revisit them on Thanksgiving Day.

Morning hike: Looking Glass Rock, a 5.6-mile hike just 15 minutes from the campground. The trail was uncrowded, the climb tough, and the view beautiful. While the forest was very pretty, we decided the woods in the Smokies are prettier!

Afternoon hike: John Rock, a 4.7-mile hike a couple miles farther down the road from Looking Glass. This trail was more crowded; it was another steep climb up with an almost-as-beautiful view slightly marred by the fish hatchery at the bottom. Next time, we’ll consider skipping the Cat Gap section of the hike, which just adds miles and not much excitement.

Eating and drinking

Our eating and drinking options were affected by Thanksgiving, but we still got to enjoy some Brevard institutions, including an extremely random bar up the hill from the campground.

Food

Wednesday night we had dinner at the bar at The Bohemian, where we grabbed carryout our last visit. They were slammed! Especially the poor bartender, who was a team of one making drinks from an unnecessarily elaborate cocktail list. My food was delish (J’s was less exciting) and the portions were huge.

Friday morning we went for an early breakfast at Morning Social, another favorite from visit #1. We were earlybirds, arriving at 8:45 hoping to beat the post-Thanksgiving rush, and it wasn’t too busy at all. Too early or too cold! Such a neat place.

What did we do for Thanksgiving dinner, you ask? We have a Thanksgiving (and Superbowl) tradition of making a big platter of nachos for dinner and watching TV, so we picked up some beans, meat, and guac from Casa Mexicana to top our chips and cheese.

For next visit:

• We spotted and are excited to try Pisgah Bakehouse, a super cute little bakery/cafe near the campground
• J’s work colleague said Smoke On BBQ is awesome after seeking it out on a wedding weekend in Cashiers

Drink

The Hub may be our favorite place to have a drink in Brevard. It’s a big outdoor store and bike shop with a bar and beer garden tucked into the side. Genius. More retail stores should serve alcohol to improve decision-making while shopping.

185 King Street was on our to-try list from last visit. It’s a laid-back music venue and home to a small brewery, Noblebräu. On the night before Thanksgiving, it was a happening hot spot; no live music, but lots of people playing games and eating good-looking burgers with their beers.

The winner for the biggest surprise of our Brevard visit goes to the Triangle Stop convenience store up the hill from our campground. We’d stopped by for gas Thanksgiving afternoon after hiking and noticed a small bar in the back with basketball on TV. It made for a fun pre-nachos outing Thanksgiving evening!

After our post-TG breakfast at Morning Social, we packed up the Airstream for a very short drive up the road to Hendersonville. Sure, we could have visited from our base at Pisgah Forest RV, but we wanted to really experience it, and we loved it!