Cataloochee Ski Area

We recently visited Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley, North Carolina on a long weekend trip with four other families and a total of 12 kids! We rented a cabin in Maggie Valley through Carolina Vacations at the Village at Twin Falls. They were a group of nice log cabins with two bedrooms and plenty of room for the kids to sleep. The cabins were all close together next to a creek, so it was easy for all of us to hang out with the other families that we went on the trip with.

The kids on the stairs of our cute cabin

Brian and I have been on ski trips out West, and we took Cooper and Caroline to Vail a couple of years ago. It was beautiful and the skiing was awesome, but the kids weren't there long enough to really get the hang of skiing so it kind of ended up making ski school kind of a really expensive babysitter! We decided we wanted to go somewhere closer to home with the kids so that they could get their feet snowy without shelling out the big bucks to fly everyone out West.

Cataloochee is a quick three hour road trip in the Struggle Bus so it was an easy choice! The first day we headed to the ski area in the morning to get signed up for everything. It was President's Day Weekend so things were pretty busy, and we realized after we had filled out the paperwork that the kids' ski school was full for the day. That threw a wrench in our plans because we were not planning on teaching the kids to ski ourselves. We are not the greatest teachers, but we went to the bunny slope and tried to show the kids some basics and we all learned how to ride the magic carpet back to the top. We had a lot of falls, but no tears, and gained a great appreciation for the ski school teachers!

We went ahead and signed up online for ski school for the next day for everyone and had lunch and headed back to the cabin to relax. We had dinner at Brickhouse Burgers and Pizza in Maggie Valley, which was the perfect spot for a group of 22 and some rowdy kids. The waitress was laid back and awesome and it was fun and casual with great pizzas!

The next day we headed back to the slopes ready to hit the ground running. It was Saturday and the holiday weekend was in full effect. We dropped the kids off at ski school and Brian and I headed out to do some skiing.

We got to do some good runs in the morning when it wasn't too crowded, which was really nice. There were a couple longer runs, and it was 56 degrees outside so the snow was from snow machines, but it was actually pretty powdery! The black runs were more like a blue out West which was nice because we haven't skied in a while. We headed in for lunch and as we did the crowd kept growing and growing. By the time we got back out to ski more, the lift lines were long and there were people everywhere. It got to the point that we decided we would head back to the lodge and have a snack and wait on the kids to finish ski school. When they finished up they said that they had a great time and Cooper and Caroline got to ride the lift and go down the green slope, and said that they loved it! We were pumped because we mostly wanted them to get a chance to see what skiing was like and make sure they didn't hate it before we plan a trip out West.

Cooper wanted to do a few more runs to show off his skills so we braved the long lift lines and got in a few more runs then headed back to the cabin. For dinner we headed to Waynesville, NC about 15 minutes away from our cabin and tried out Los Amigos. It was a small restaurant but they were so nice and flexible and moved tables around to accommodate our big group! The food was great and the owner and staff were so nice and friendly to our kids, so it made for a perfect dinner spot.

There was rain in the forecast the next day, so we decided to call and make reservations at the Grove Park Inn brunch in Asheville, NC. We got up and hopped in the struggle bus and headed to Asheville, which was about 45 minutes away. We hit up the outlet mall, then went to the Grove Park and had their amazing brunch and enjoyed seeing the Grove Park. The brunch was so, so good- crab legs, amazing breakfast foods, bananas foster french toast, mimosas- we were stuffed when we left.

On the way back to our cabin we decided to check out Soco Falls, which was a pretty waterfall area a few minutes from our cabin. It was a short little hike down to the falls, but it was starting to rain and a little slick so a little scary with the kids! It was pretty and a good photo op.

Overall, Cataloochee made for a great group trip and the separate cabins next to each other worked out perfectly. The skiing was pretty good for something so close to home and it being 55 degrees outside. Some pointers if you make the trip:

-Book ski school in advance online here. You can sign up ahead of time, but it is non-refundable and they hold ski school in the rain!

-If you pay for ski school, the skis or snowboard, helmets and goggles, and lift tickets are included, so keep that in mind so you don't pay twice.

-There is a Publix and an Ingles in Waynesville, NC about a ten to fifteen minute drive from Maggie Valley, so load up on snacks when you arrive. The lodge at Cataloochee has nachos and chicken finger type food as well as a bar, but some people brought coolers and brought in their own snacks.

-If the weather isn't great for skiing, consider a side trip to Asheville for the day. It was a quick 45 minute drive from Maggie Valley, and its a fun place to check out. Our kids loved touring the Biltmore when we went back in December (check out the kids audio guide- definitely worth the add on), the Grove Park buffet is amazing, and Asheville downtown has cute shopping and lots of breweries.

Overall, we give Cataloochee a family friendly two thumbs up, it ended up being pretty pricey to purchase lift tickets and ski rentals for the whole family (in line with other ski resorts but this isn't an area you save a ton but going somewhere smaller), and a great choice for a trip with multiple families. I felt like it gave the kids a good taste of skiing, and they are ready to ski again already.

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