We visited Waynesville in October 2025 as part of our October WV/NC Mountains loop.

Waynesville is the largest town in North Carolina west of Asheville, a fact that surprised me. It’s thirty miles west of Asheville, and two hours southwest of our previous stop, Banner Elk. Waynesville has a picturesque downtown with shops and restaurants, and is adjacent to the 200-acre Lake Junaluska.

Lake Junaluska was formerly owned by the United Methodist Church, and it was once the headquarters of the World Methodist Council. Now the lake, the dam, the recreational facilities, and the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center are owned by a board of directors.

Campground

We stayed at Lake Junaluska Campground, kind of packed in like a sardine, across a busy and noisy road from the lake. We spent so little time there that I forgot to take a picture of our campsite… but you’re not missing much. Nice people in the office, though. With our camping fee, we got complimentary access to the recreational facilities across the street at the Conference and Retreat Center: a nice perk we didn’t have time to investigate.

Hiking

The highlight of our stopover in Waynesville was hiking into Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Hemphill Bald, for nine miles total. It was a steady climb into the park that got tough at the end to reach the bald, with gorgeous views and a randomly fabulous relaxation spot near the top.

Perfectly timed for our lunch break, we stumbled upon an outdoor seating area owned by The Swag, a luxury resort up in the hills over Waynesville.

Thanks for the comfy seats and the lovely views!

Eating and drinking

After working up an appetite hiking, we headed into town to wander a bit, relax with a beer or two, and grab dinner. Based on J’s research, we chose three spots: Blue Ridge Beer Hub in downtown, Mad Anthony’s just outside downtown, and Frog Level Brewing down the road in the Frog Level Historic District along Richland Creek.

We had a beer at Blue Ridge Beer Hub, and it was kind of empty and not well-stocked, and didn’t have a great outdoor space.

Mad Anthony’s was busy! We were happy to sit outside—although you have to order inside at the bar—and enjoyed a super yummy veggie pizza and the impressive beer list.

Frog Level Brewing was the winner of the day: we sat on the spacious back patio overlooking the river, listening to live music. The sours I tried were fab, and if we weren’t full of pizza I would have ordered their shrimp tacos!

Note that our camp host said Haywood Smokehouse makes the best barbeque in the country! We didn’t try it, but that’s a heck of an endorsement. We had also flagged Singletree Heritage Kitchen and Fuego Modern American Kitchen as possibilities for dinner, and BearWaters Brewing if we’d traveled farther afield to Maggie Valley.

In the morning, we drove 45 minutes to the GSMNP picnic area in Bryson City—and were able to park the Airstream there! Luckily we were early enough for that questionable plan to work out, so we could have breakfast, hike, and even shower, before heading to our campsite in Bryson City.