We visited Lake Toxaway in May 2025 as part of our May Carolinas loop.

Lake Toxaway is an hour due north of Clemson, between Highlands and Brevard in southwestern North Carolina. Our primary reason for visiting was to hike in Panthertown Valley, called by someone the “Yosemite of the East.” While we didn’t necessarily see the resemblance to Yosemite, we very much enjoyed hiking there, and were pleased to find a few other gems in the Lake Toxaway area.

Lake Toxaway is the largest private lake in North Carolina, at 640 acres and 14 miles of shoreline, with a maximum depth of 60′. It was first filled in 1902 and surrounded by luxury resorts, with the area getting the name “the Switzerland of America.” In 1916, a flood destroyed the dam, the lake was ruined, and the resorts eventually closed. In the ’60s, investors bought the land, restored the lake, and opened Lake Toxaway Country Club. Now, you can only access the lake via the country club, or by ownership in Lake Toxaway Estates. You can look at it for free though!

Campground

We stayed at Blue Ridge Falls RV Resort, a pretty campground with a little creek running behind our site. From the campground, it was a short drive to everywhere we needed to go.

Other nearby campgrounds we considered were the campground at Gorges State Park, but they had no availability the entire month, and Mountain Falls Motorcoach Resort, but they only allow Class A RVs (the big buses). There’s also a Harvest Host in the town of Cashiers (pronounced cash-ers).

We were very pleased with Blue Ridge Falls RV and would stay there again.

Hiking

Panthertown Valley

Panthertown Valley is 6,300 acres of wilderness tucked between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Great Smoky Mountains in the Nantahala National Forest. The trail system is well-maintained by the non-profit Friends of Panthertown, and with the help of AllTrails we chose a few hikes, just a fifteen-minute drive from the campground.

Greenland Creek Falls was gorgeous and all ours. It was a delightful two-mile loop in the woods.

The Panthertown Backcountry loop was a tougher hike, eight miles up and down through mist and spots of mud with two creek crossings where we took off our shoes to stay dry. We had no big views, but the forest was beautiful and the waterfalls were awesome.

Before leaving town we planned to hike to Tranquility Point for the view if the weather was clear, but it was pouring rain, so we chilled in the Airstream until checkout. Next time!

Gorges State Park

Drive ten minutes from the campground in the other direction, and you hit Gorges State Park. This 8000-acre park has 26 waterfalls and 56 miles of hiking trails. We chose a four-mile out-and-back passing three big waterfalls; Drift Falls at the turnaround was our favorite because the crowds at the other falls didn’t make it all the way to the end of the trail.

Eating and drinking

Our favorite hangout was Forks of the River Taproom, 15 minutes away in Headwaters Outfitters, which is actually closer to Brevard, a later stop on this trip, than Lake Toxaway. We drank fantastic local beer (loved my blueberry gose from Westbrook Brewing in Mt Pleasant, SC), relished the happening locals scene, and petted a bunch of dogs.

While at Forks of the River, we ate delicious rice bowls from the Local Harvester food truck parked outside. We loved Forks of the River so much we went both days.

Grand Olde Station is a really neat restaurant in a former train depot just a few minutes from the campground. We ate dinner sitting at the bar with some locals and enjoyed the old-timey feel and the yummy salads.

Dud alert: after hiking we tried for lunch at Greystone Inn but they were reservation-only for Mother’s Day. That’s fine, but the dining room was empty when we stopped in, and they clearly just didn’t feel like letting us sit down.

On a happier note, we were welcomed warmly for tea and wifi at Sweetwater Perk just around the corner from the campground. It’s a super cute and super friendly little place with surprisingly fast internet.

Lake Toxaway was a fun surprise and I’d like to return to do more in Panthertown. But after two days it was time to move on to Bryson City, a hour and a half northwest, which might have been our favorite stop on this trip.