Christmas Tree Hunting
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| Cashiers, NC Christmas tree farm |
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year...”
Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. And for the past few years one of my favorite ways to bring in the Christmas season is to cut down a Christmas tree. I’ve grown up with Fraser firs and love the way they smell. And, luckily, I live in the south where I can drive up to Western North Carolina and have many places to choose from to cut a tree. There are tree farms all across the southern Appalachian Mountains that grow Fraser firs as well as other types of Christmas trees.
To really jump into the Christmas spirit and join the masses, head out to get your tree on the day after Thanksgiving (“Black Friday”). This has been our tradition and I would rather fight the small crowds in getting a Christmas tree instead of fighting crowds at a mall. Also, you have a better chance at getting a good tree. We usually go to Cashiers or Highlands, North Carolina. There are a few places in this area that will only do the “choose-and-cut” Christmas tree on that Friday. Then they will go through and cut the rest down to ship out to stores. Cashiers gets a little crowded on that day (and I’m sure the rest of that weekend too) but it’s not too bad. The difficult thing is if you want to go get some lunch while you’re there. Most of the few restaurants they have in the area are crowded. One BBQ place last year ran out of BBQ in the afternoon. So you should plan accordingly.
If you go to Cashiers, many times we just follow the signs to where a tree farm is. Most operations are simple, family run places with few facilities (i.e. - bathrooms). Some places are larger operations. They have food, bathrooms, hay rides and other fun activities. If you want to plan a trip or weekend I have some suggestions below. To find other places, I used this website: pickyourownchristmastree.org. They organize the farms by county. To help, Avery county is near Boone, Haywood county has Waynesville in it (west of Asheville), Jackson county has Cashiers and Cullowhee, Macon county is where Highlands is, Transylvania is where Brevard is and Watuga county is where Boone is.
There are some Inns and Bed and Breakfast places that offer packages for you to stay and cut your tree down. This would be fun as a family trip. For those that travel far, some farms offer options to wrap your tree in burlap or other materials to help protect the tree from the drive.
Here are a few ideas for weekend or overnight trips:
Boyd Mountain Christmas Tree Farm has Christmas trees as well as cabins where you can stay. It's near Maggie Valley, Cherokee, Waynesville, and the Blue Ridge Parkway. I really liked Waynesville, the one time I visited. We found a good restaurant downtown and there are some neat shops there.
You can get a tree near Cashiers at Tom Sawyer's Christmas Trees (this is one place that will wrap your trees in burlap to protect them on the road).
A few Christmas events and displays to check out:
Black Mountain has a Christmas event
Biltmore Village, Dicken's Christmas
There's the ginger bread house display at the Grove Park Inn, near Asheville:
There's a Christmas festival in Lake Junaluska
Waynesville also has a Christmas event.
And there’s always the Biltmore Christmas events, like the evening’s candlelight tour. They really know how to decorate their property! Their main Christmas tree is a huge live tree. It’s pretty impressive.
To really jump into the Christmas spirit and join the masses, head out to get your tree on the day after Thanksgiving (“Black Friday”). This has been our tradition and I would rather fight the small crowds in getting a Christmas tree instead of fighting crowds at a mall. Also, you have a better chance at getting a good tree. We usually go to Cashiers or Highlands, North Carolina. There are a few places in this area that will only do the “choose-and-cut” Christmas tree on that Friday. Then they will go through and cut the rest down to ship out to stores. Cashiers gets a little crowded on that day (and I’m sure the rest of that weekend too) but it’s not too bad. The difficult thing is if you want to go get some lunch while you’re there. Most of the few restaurants they have in the area are crowded. One BBQ place last year ran out of BBQ in the afternoon. So you should plan accordingly.
If you go to Cashiers, many times we just follow the signs to where a tree farm is. Most operations are simple, family run places with few facilities (i.e. - bathrooms). Some places are larger operations. They have food, bathrooms, hay rides and other fun activities. If you want to plan a trip or weekend I have some suggestions below. To find other places, I used this website: pickyourownchristmastree.org. They organize the farms by county. To help, Avery county is near Boone, Haywood county has Waynesville in it (west of Asheville), Jackson county has Cashiers and Cullowhee, Macon county is where Highlands is, Transylvania is where Brevard is and Watuga county is where Boone is.
There are some Inns and Bed and Breakfast places that offer packages for you to stay and cut your tree down. This would be fun as a family trip. For those that travel far, some farms offer options to wrap your tree in burlap or other materials to help protect the tree from the drive.
Here are a few ideas for weekend or overnight trips:
Boyd Mountain Christmas Tree Farm has Christmas trees as well as cabins where you can stay. It's near Maggie Valley, Cherokee, Waynesville, and the Blue Ridge Parkway. I really liked Waynesville, the one time I visited. We found a good restaurant downtown and there are some neat shops there.
You can get a tree near Cashiers at Tom Sawyer's Christmas Trees (this is one place that will wrap your trees in burlap to protect them on the road).
A few Christmas events and displays to check out:
Black Mountain has a Christmas event
Biltmore Village, Dicken's Christmas
There's the ginger bread house display at the Grove Park Inn, near Asheville:
There's a Christmas festival in Lake Junaluska
Waynesville also has a Christmas event.
And there’s always the Biltmore Christmas events, like the evening’s candlelight tour. They really know how to decorate their property! Their main Christmas tree is a huge live tree. It’s pretty impressive.
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