If you go
Cashiers is a two and a half hour drive from downtown Atlanta. Take I-85 north to Exit 1 in South Carolina. Follow S.C. 11 and S.C. 107 north to Cashiers.
Where to stay
High Hampton Inn. The 2015 season runs until November. Rates start at $154 a night and include three meals a day in the lodge dining room. There's a two-night minimum on weekends. 1525 Highway 107 South, Cashiers, N.C. 1-800-334-2551, highhamptoninn.com.
Lonesome Valley. Guest cottages have two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full kitchen, family room with fireplace, breakfast area and back porch for $325 a night. 94 Lonesome Valley Road, Sapphire, N.C. 828-743-7696, lonesomevalley.com.
Where to eat
Canyon Kitchen. The seasonal menu changes weekly depending on what is growing in the garden. $53 per person includes all courses. 94 Lonesome Valley Road, Sapphire, N.C. 828-743-7696, lonesomevalley.com/project/canyon-kitchen.
Slab Town Pizza. Casual, kid-friendly, order-at-the-counter pizzeria featuring handmade artisanal pies, calzones, salads and plenty of local craft beer on tap. Whole pies start at $12. 45 Slab Town Road, Cashiers, N.C. 828-743-0020, slabtownpizza.com.
Visitor information
Jackson County Tourism Development Authority. 1-800-962-1911, mountainloversnc.com.
High Hampton Inn doesn’t have TVs or telephones in its rooms. And cell service is spotty to nonexistent in the mountainous setting. It’s a place to unwind but — by necessity — you’ll also be unconnected.
That’s by design as much as topography. High Hampton sticks proudly to its old-fashioned ways. And the families who’ve been vacationing at the western North Carolina mountain retreat in Cashiers each summer for generations like it that way.
Now in its 93rd season of operation, tradition reigns at High Hampton. Men must wear a coat and tie to dinner. Denim isn’t allowed in the evenings. If you show up to the breakfast buffet wearing a baseball cap, you’ll be asked in a quiet, polite manner to remove it.
Tea and cookies are served in the lobby every afternoon, and the evening entertainment might consist of old-fashioned parlor games, mountain music or a natural history presentation. Whatever it takes to bring people together in conversation is the aim. If it sounds like an Appalachian version of Downton Abbey, so be it. In the modern age, it’s hard to find a vacation experience quite like High Hampton.
The accommodations are comfortably rustic, with wooden floors that creak when you walk down the hall, and each room and cabin seemingly different from the next. One of the best things about staying at High Hampton is the feeling of going through a time tunnel and arriving at a pristine lakeside resort in the mountains as it might have appeared when your grandparents were kids.
Many families got their start at the resort, because the lush, serene setting lends itself to weddings.
High Hampton isn’t for everyone as an overnight destination, but it’s worth a day visit for anyone staying in the Jackson County area. The public is welcome to stroll the grounds and hike the extensive trail system, taking in the impressive scenery around the 35-acre lake and from two mountain summits overlooking the property.
Outside the grounds of High Hampton, Cashiers (pronounced “cashers” by locals) is an eclectic crossroads mountain town with an array of locally owned shops and restaurants, a healthy mix ranging from upscale and refined to offbeat and homey.
Lonesome Valley, a few miles east of town, is an 800-acre private gated community with vacation cottages available. It isn’t a showplace of homes, rather a place to revel in nature much like at High Hampton — only you’ll feel like you have the place to yourself at Lonesome Valley.
It’s located in a box canyon of soaring stone-faced mountains, and only residents or those staying in the cottages can explore the valley. However, anyone can dine at Canyon Kitchen or have a spa treatment at Canyon Spa, both part of Lonesome Valley but outside the main gate and open to the public.
Dining at Canyon Kitchen is an experience, not just a meal. The restaurant resembles a fancy wooden barn that could pass for a ski lodge in another setting. The pay-one-price menu changes week to week, influenced by what is available in the garden outside the kitchen door. Under the guidance of chef John Fleer, Canyon Kitchen has flourished. If you’re seeking the ultimate date night around Cashiers, this is the place.
Five miles north of Cashiers, Lake Glenville is a shimmering oasis for those who need to get out on the open water while in the mountains. Said to be the highest man-made lake east of the Mississippi, it’s also big enough for power boating, a rarity in these parts.
Lakeshore Pontoon Rentals is the only boat rental company on the lake. Owners Chris and Regina Hunter also provide guided tours, including sunset cruises. The Hunters know all the hidden coves, so if you don’t take a guided tour, be sure to get directions to these scenic, peaceful spots where where waterfalls tumble into the lake.
Waterfalls abound in the Cashiers area, and so do trails to reach them. From Whitewater Falls — at 411 feet the highest in the east — to Little Sliding Rock — where, as the name suggests, you can slide down the falls — you can find all manner of cascading water on the plateau. High Hampton has a waterfall map with directions, available in its lobby.
Upcoming area events include Blues, Brews and BBQ over Memorial Day weekend, Taste of the Plateau culinary festival June 26-29, the Lake Glenville Majesty Over Water fireworks display July 5, and the Rotary Club of Cashiers Valley Arts and Crafts Fair held over Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, bookending summer in Cashiers.
