The Ultimate Guide To Asheville and the Western North Carolina Mountains
The Ultimate Guide to Asheville & the Western North Carolina Mountains
The Online Version of the Best-selling Regional Guidebook
 

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   The 56,000-acre Cherokee Indian Reservation is home to more than 10,000 Eastern Band of the Cherokee members. Each year, thousands of visitors from across the country come to discover this enchanted land and to share the natural mountain beauty the Cherokee have treasured for centuries.
   A visit to Cherokee is like stepping into the past. You’ll find a nation still linked to ancient customs and traditions that enable them to live in harmony with nature as their ancestors did. The Reservation, known as the Qualla Boundary, has a number of outstanding attractions. Among them is the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual, “Unto These Hills” Outdoor Drama, Oconaluftee Indian Village, and Harrah's Cherokee Casino & Hotel. There are 28 campgrounds on the Reservation, and many motels and cabins. And be sure and visit the Cherokee Welcome Center on at 489 Tsali Boulevard in downtown Cherokee. Be prepared however to be turned off by the somewhat glitzy atmosphere on Main Street, which overflows with tourist stores selling "Indian" souvenirs made in China, and street performers wearing Plains Indian costumes.
    One major problem area does exist in Cherokee that hopefully will be addressed in the near future. The privately owned Cherokee Zoo, Santa's Land and the Chief Sauooke Bear parks keep their captive native Black Bears in deplorable and sub-standard conditions, enough so that attention has been drawn to the problem by national media. Bob Barker, on behalf of PETA, one of the organizations protesting the bear's conditions, is leading the drive to bring about positive change at the zoos (Read Barker's letter to Chief Hicks). The Black Bear has long been a symbol of the mountains, and a sacred animal to the Cherokee Indians, and is unfortunate that some of these magnificent creatures are kept in such pathetic conditions. Until this situation is corrected, I suggest that you boycott these three attractions and let the folks at the Welcome Center know why you did.

Website: Cherokee Indian Reservation
Location: Cherokee NC
Distance: 1-1^1/2 hours from Asheville
Address: Cherokee Welcome Center, 498 Tsali Boulevard, Cherokee, NC 28719
Telephone: 800-438-1601
Allow: Plan to spend the whole day
Primary Attractions: Harrah's Cherokee Casino & Hotel, Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual, Unto These Hills, Oconaluftee Indian Village, Unto These Hills
Nearby: Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Directions: From Asheville take I-40 west to exit 27 (Great Smoky Mountains Expressway). Continue west on U.S. 74 past Waynesville, Sylva, and Dillsboro to exit 74, Cherokee. U.S.Hwy 441 will take you into Cherokee.