The Smokies Start Where the Lawn Ends: Inside Elk & Embers, the Waynesville Retreat AFAR Just Put on the Map

By Jon Tharp, Broker  ·  July 22, 2026

There is a hiking trail on this Waynesville property that does something almost no private trail in the country gets to do. You walk it far enough and the private land simply ends, and you are standing in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

That trail belongs to Elk & Embers, a 108-acre retreat sitting at roughly 4,000 feet in Haywood County. It opened in April 2025 with a mix of safari tents, cabins, and a treehouse, rates starting near $425, and almost no signage announcing it exists. AFAR reviewed it recently under a headline that got the whole thing right in one line: the national park starts in your backyard.

For anyone who has spent time in this part of Western North Carolina, that claim carries weight. Land adjoining the park is scarce, tightly held, and rarely turns into anything a visitor can book.

The Five Years Before the First Guest

Kristina and Susan McLean bought the property in the fall of 2020. They are longtime friends, not a corporate hospitality group, with family lines that trace back through North Carolina and Tennessee and decades of trips into these mountains with their own families behind the decision.

What they bought was an old farm. Cow paths cut across the slopes, a barn was giving up, a canning shed was still standing, and a log house built around 1872 sat where the weather had left it. There was no water system, no septic, and no power in the ground.

Almost five years went into changing that. They drilled two wells. Septic systems went in. Crews buried the power and a fiber optic network rather than stringing them on poles, which is a meaningful expense on a mountain and the reason there are no utility lines cutting across the views now. Stormwater grading and excavation took care of the rest.

Their husbands, Glenn and Matt, came into the project too, with Glenn handling operations and technology. Kristina works as a medical professional at Haywood Regional and runs an aesthetics and wellness practice. Susan won a national dressage championship in 2024. This is a family operation in the real sense, not a brand built by a marketing team.

One story from the build years says most of what you need to know. Kristina and Susan hiked in through heavy snow to reach the property, then changed a flat tire in 26-degree weather using a portable inflater to get back out. Five years later, guests arrive by electric golf cart on a graded path.

Seven Ways to Sleep on a Mountain

The property now has seven accommodations, spread deliberately across a stretch of hillslope so that each one feels alone. Three are safari tents built by Bushtec Safari and named for birds you will actually hear here: Tanager, Nuthatch, and Goldfinch. Three are cabins, Crabtree, Creekside, and Rainforest. One is the Hemlock Treehouse.

Units run roughly 380 to 585 square feet and sleep one to three people. Inside, the standard is higher than the word camping suggests. King beds on certified organic mattresses, Frette and organic percale linens, deep soaking tubs, indoor and outdoor showers, Nespresso bars, Sonos speakers, electric stoves for heat, and heated decks for the mornings when the fog is still sitting in the valley below you.

The Tanager Tent has a custom glass shower bump-out that pushes out into the trees. Crabtree Cabin is the ADA-accessible unit currently, with Rainforest designed to add a second accessible option as the buildout continues.

That 1872 log house did not get torn down. They moved it and refurbished it into a guest cottage, which is the kind of decision that costs more and matters more.

The Trail That Runs Out of Private Land

More than five miles of trail now cross the 108 acres, much of it following the old farm's cow paths, which is how mountain trails have always been made here.

The waterfall hike is the main route, and partway along it you hit the tree weave, a suspended parachute cord structure strung about ten feet above a rocky creek. You climb into it, lie back, and listen to water move under you. It is the sort of thing that sounds gimmicky in a description and is not once you are in it.

Another trail ends at Twin Springs, a pair of natural springheads the owners found while clearing the land. Ginseng grows on the property, enough that foragers have historically known about it. The creeks hold trout and habitat for salamander species that are endangered, which shaped how the buildout treated the water.

Black bears live here too, and there is trail camera footage of them working over the trail signs. That is not a marketing detail. That is Haywood County.

And then there is the trail that connects to the park itself. Great Smoky Mountains National Park covers more than half a million acres, and the North Carolina side of it stays quieter than the Tennessee side by a wide margin. Having a private path into it, instead of a 40-minute drive to a full trailhead lot, changes what a morning looks like.

Elk, Cataloochee, and Why the Name Fits

The name is not decorative. Cataloochee Valley, one of the quietest places in the entire park, sits within reach of this property, and it is where the park service reintroduced elk to these mountains in 2001 after they had been gone from the region for well over a century.

That herd took hold. Now, on a September evening in Cataloochee, you can stand at the edge of an old farm field and hear bulls bugling across it while the light drops behind the ridges. The valley still has its historic churches, a schoolhouse, and standing homesteads from the community that lived there before the park was created in the 1930s.

Getting there means a slow gravel road with switchbacks and no cell service, which filters the crowds a little. Fall weekends still fill the small pullouts early, so locals go at dawn.

Elk & Embers has said it plans to run guided elk viewing hikes in the national park paired with catered dinners. Cataloochee Ski Area, the ski hill above Maggie Valley that has been operating since 1961, is also close, which gives the property a winter identity that a lot of Southern glamping sites lack.

Built From What Was Already Standing

Most of the material from the old farm never left the property. They milled down the barn and the older cabins and reused the wood as siding on the new structures. Crews pulled the metal roof panels and put them back into service. Locust and oak that came down during clearing became fencing, firewood, and custom furniture.

The old canning shed became the MarketShed, now a communal supply station with a mocktail bar, s'mores kits, and frozen meals for guests who would rather not drive anywhere. A gazebo on the property came together entirely from materials found on site.

The sustainability commitments run past the salvage work. The property minimizes single-use plastics, the coffee and food lean organic, the golf carts and stoves are electric, and the creeks stayed protected during construction specifically because of the trout and salamander habitat in them.

There is one more thing worth saying plainly. Elk & Embers has made a point of hiring people with disabilities, a decision shaped by Kristina and Glenn's son Cole, who is significantly affected by autism. In a county where good year-round hospitality jobs matter, that is not a small commitment.

Food, and the Waynesville Drive

Right now the food model is light. Continental breakfast and a packaged lunch come with the stay, and the MarketShed covers the gaps. Weekly barbecue dinners have been in the plans.

Dinner otherwise means driving. Waynesville is roughly an hour round trip, which is a real consideration if you were picturing a five-minute walk to a restaurant. The upside is that Waynesville is worth the drive. Main Street has held onto its independent shops and kitchens better than most towns its size in the region, and the Frog Level district down by the creek has its own crowd. Maggie Valley is closer still for a casual night.

That equation is set to change. A 4,000 square foot Overlook Lodge has been in the works, with full breakfast, lunch, and dinner service, craft cocktails, and beer and wine. Plans have also included a forest sauna, a spring-fed plunge pool, wellness retreats, and hosted hikes with catered meals. The buildout has been rolling out in phases, so anyone booking should confirm what is actually open on their dates.

Service on property is intentionally light-touch. Self check-in, self-service in the common areas, and a concierge team reachable by text who can arrange in-room massages, kayaking, mountain biking, or rafting on the Nantahala or the Pigeon.

Why This Corner of Haywood County Keeps Pulling People Back

Haywood County took a hard hit from Hurricane Helene in September 2024, and the recovery is still underway in places. Elk & Embers came through largely unscathed, and the surrounding communities have spent the time since rebuilding roads, businesses, and river access. Visitors coming back has been part of how that works.

What makes this pocket of Western North Carolina hold people is not one attraction. It is the combination. A national park boundary you can hike to. A ski hill twenty minutes off. Elk in a valley that used to be a farming community. A Main Street in Waynesville that still belongs to the people who live there. Asheville close enough for a day trip and far enough that you do not feel it.

Elk & Embers is a good read on all of that, built by two friends who kept coming back to these mountains until they finally bought a piece of one. Seven places to sleep on 108 acres, and enough restraint in the design that the land is still the loudest thing there.

A lot of folks book a weekend at a place like this and find themselves looking up what an acre goes for around Jonathan Creek before they have even packed the car. When that thought turns into a real question, my door is open and there is no clock running.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Where exactly is Elk & Embers located in North Carolina?

Elk & Embers sits at 604 Ranch Boundary Drive outside Waynesville in Haywood County, about 4,000 feet up on 108 acres that border Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Asheville is under an hour away by car, and the drive into downtown Waynesville for restaurants and shops runs roughly a half hour each way. Maggie Valley, Cataloochee Valley, and the Blue Ridge Parkway are all within easy reach. The final approach is gravel mountain road, and the property uses electric golf carts to move guests between the parking area and individual units.

How much does it cost to stay at Elk & Embers?

Rates start around $425 per night and climb from there depending on the unit, the season, and how far ahead you book. Fall leaf season is the peak, and October weekends tend to go first. Each accommodation sleeps one to three people, so this is built for couples and small groups rather than large families. A continental breakfast and a packaged lunch are currently included, along with access to the MarketShed and the common fire pits. Once the Overlook Lodge opens with full dining service, the food component of a stay is expected to change.

Can you actually walk into Great Smoky Mountains National Park from the property?

Yes. Elk & Embers has more than five miles of private hiking trails across its 108 acres, and one of them connects to the adjacent national park boundary. That is unusual even in this part of the state, where most lodging near the Smokies still requires a drive to a trailhead. The private trail network includes a waterfall route, a pair of natural springheads the owners named Twin Springs, and a tree weave suspended over a creek. Trail conditions vary with weather and elevation, so check with the property before planning a long park hike.

When is the best time to see elk near Waynesville?

Cataloochee Valley, about a 45-minute drive from the Waynesville area over a winding gravel road, is the most reliable elk viewing in the North Carolina Smokies. Elk were reintroduced there in 2001 and the herd has grown steadily since. Early morning and the hour before sunset are the best windows, and September through mid-October is the rut, when bulls bugle across the fields. Stay in your vehicle or well back from the animals, since park rules require keeping at least 50 yards away. Arrive early on fall weekends because the small parking areas fill fast.

Is Elk & Embers open year round, and is any of it accessible?

The property operates through all four seasons, with electric stoves for heat, heated decks, and insulated safari tents built by Bushtec Safari. Winter at 4,000 feet in Haywood County means real snow and ice, and Cataloochee Ski Area is close by for anyone who wants it. Crabtree Cabin is the current ADA-accessible option, with Rainforest Cabin designed to add a second. Because the site is a working mountain slope with gravel paths, guests with mobility needs should talk with the property directly about golf cart access and the terrain around each individual unit.