Elk River Falls

On the morning of our final full day in the mountains we headed about as close to Tennessee as we could get without crossing the state line. We followed directions from the hotel staff to Elk River Falls. Believe me when I tell you that you would not be able to find this place, nor truly believe that it's there when you're looking unless you trust who is giving you directions. It is hidden, but it is great!

First we went down by the river.

We couldn't figure out why, but the place was crawling with some butterflies.

 Then we walked along the river to the top of the waterfall.

Here's the dropoff.

Then I went down to take a picture of them up on top. I don't know you if you can see them to the right of the waterfall in this picture, but the boys and their father are up there.

When they made their way down, (It gets very steep as you go from the top to the bottom of the waterfall...) we took some pictures at the bottom.

When we left Elk River Falls, we went over to Beech Mountain. At 5,506 feet, it's the highest town in eastern North America.

Then we went back to Sugar Mountain and found a loop trail (after much searching). It wasn't very exciting. In fact, the most exciting thing was finding this caterpillar or centipede. We walked the loop and ate our picnic lunch before heading back to the hotel to pack for our trip home.

We ended up staying at The Highlands at Sugar Mountain because we traded our timeshare for a week there. It had plenty of space, and despite how outdated it was, it had everything we needed. In addition, there was a playground on the grounds and a pool and hot tub. So, each day after naps, we would either take the kids to the playground to play, or to the pool to swim. It was a great week away!