We first stayed at Mountain Brook in October 1986 for our honeymoon. We returned in October 2011 to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We stayed in Cabin #5 both times. This is a cozy, one bedroom unit with a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and a front porch with swing. The McMahons do a great job running the place. Mountain Brook is fairly secluded, located about 10 miles from either Franklin or Dillsboro/Sylva. We usually shop in Franklin for groceries, and work in some bowling or mini golf. Mill Creek Country Club is a nice golf course in Franklin with reasonable rates, but there are also other top notch courses in the area. Each town has nice restaurants, while Franklin also tends to have more of the national food chains.
Mountain Brook can be enjoyed all by itself as a peaceful getaway, or it can be used as a home base to sightsee the Great Smoky Mountains. To the north, it is a fairly short drive to Cherokee, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Clingman's Dome. A little farther drive brings in Gatlinburg, Cades Cove, or Asheville. To the south is Highlands, Cashiers, and the Land of the Waterfalls. We typically do a lot of hiking, and it is nice to return to the cabin for a fire with wood stocked daily by Gus. There are no televisions or telephones, so it is a nice restful, change of pace. We will certainly return for our 50th anniversary, but plan to also make a few intermediate trips as well.
