Photograph courtesy Jellystone Park Golden Valley
Reminiscing about childhood summers spent at sleep-away camp might bring to mind games of flashlight tag and friendship bracelet-making, bonfires with spooky storytelling and s’mores, mess hall food, and the summer bestie you might still hang out with today. These days, the rite of passage for many American kids is something that family-friendly, camp-style resorts are offering not just for children, but for the whole family.
Heading to Beautiful Bostic
If you’re from Cincinnati, you may have also had to Google Bostic, North Carolina. This is where Jellystone Park Golden Valley, our summer camp-style resort destination, was located in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains. The drive is surprisingly only six hours—unless you have kids, in which case it’s probably way more. Stock up on groceries for the week prior to arrival, as the nearest grocery store is in Forest City, about 25 minutes from the resort. But that’s one of the perks of camp—Jellystone Park is nestled quite literally on a mountain, surrounded by amazing hikes, tall trees, and fabulous views.
How to Stay
If you have a travel trailer, you know what to do. For everyone else, you can rent a variety of cabins—some are the original cabins that Girl Scouts used to stay in, as is the mess hall-turned-cool-restaurant. Coming with a bigger group? Up to three families can stay in a larger cabin featuring a hot tub and various game tables, like foosball. Staying solo with your own family? The tree top cabin overhangs a mountain cliff, and the regular cabin comes in various sizes. My own five kids stayed in the “Sycamore” cabin, with a loft with two large beds on the floor and a smaller bunk bed by the main room downstairs. As a family recently retired from camper life, it was the next best thing with a bit more room.
Photograph courtesy Jellystone Park Golden Valley
Things to Do
Consider renting a golf cart, as there are many hills to navigate between activities, and the cart itself becomes part of the fun. In the morning, we’d ride to the pool and water park area or do a bit of laundry in the laundromat while the kids played on a large jump pad and playground nearby. Begin signing up for activities for the day in advance, such as rowing, the lake-top inflatable playground called a Wibit, laser tag, and a full-size mountain coaster that you operate yourself—slightly terrifying and super fun all at once. More serious hikers can head nearly a mile straight up through the woods to the wildfire watch tower for some exercise and a stunning view.
An Effortless Agenda
One of the beauties of a family summer camp is that you don’t have to plan the agenda for the day—the resort does itself. For example, you can meet the park’s mascot, Yogi Bear, for craft time, candy bar bingo, and dance parties. In the evening, it’s normal for a full-blown parade to go by your cabin with glow sticks on each cart and kids throwing candy. If you need more chill things to do, try out the fully stocked tennis, badminton, and pickleball courts or the neighboring sand volleyball and basketball courts.
Photograph courtesy Jellystone Park Golden Valley
A Break for the Parents
This may sound like a kid’s paradise without much for the parents, but consider this: Late each afternoon, parents head to one of the two on-site taverns to grab drinks and hang out poolside or in the hot tub, while the kids burn up the last of their energy for the day. It’s summer camp, but with a margarita. There’s an ice cream stand and two dining options on the premises as well, if making dinner doesn’t sound that relaxing every night. After all, it’s meant to be a vacation for everyone in the family.
Photograph courtesy Wilderness at the Smokies
Stop at Sevierville
If your group is looking for a pit stop on the way down to North Carolina that will break your trip into a more manageable and leisurely two- or three-day drive, consider that you will head right through Sevierville, Tennessee. There, find Wilderness at the Smokies, a resort with lots of on-premise and kid-friendly activities, including indoor and outdoor waterparks and treehouse cabins with connected “treehouse rooms,” where four or more kids can take a break from the parents and play, hang out, and sleep. The cabins are a feature all on their own, complete with fireplaces, beautiful mountain views, and lots to do in the city. The pit stop is awesome for larger groups traveling together who don’t want to separate into different hotels on the way.
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