The view from Gorham's Bluff gets 5 stars as it's ...

The view from Gorham's Bluff gets 5 stars as it's quite impressive but the natural beauty is the only positive thing I have to say about this place. We stayed 3 days at the Evans cottages which was a little worn and exhibiting water damage in the ceiling and in the kitchen floor but still very comfortable. However, there was virtually no room for food items except in the fridge. It's clearly designed for only a couple.

Because we were staying longer, we had to move the Greek Revival cottage, which has only half a kitchen and is NOT designed for people planning on cooking for themselves. This is a major problem as there is no nearby restaurant except the Lodge, which has a good, if somewhat limited menu. The Lodge itself also showed signs of a lack of maintenance. The back deck on the Greek Revival had wooden planks that were very worn, warped and the nails were popping out in several locations. Also, there was no indoor dining table. There was an outside table with 4 chairs but with the high humidity, that made eating outside uncomfortable. Thankfully, the air conditioning in every location worked well!

Despite issues with maintenance, the rooms were comfortable. However, the single biggest drawback is that there is nothing to do around here. Several, but not all, cottages offer bicycles and there is a small swimming pool and playground but that's the extent of the activities. There is a short trail along the bluff but one of them is a long wooden walkway that is in serious disrepair. The nearby town of Pisgah (and all other nearby towns) lack any meaningful facilities. This is not a place designed to handle tourists. A pity, since the Tennessee River is at the bottom of the bluff with a large gulf that could be a place for water activities but there is no quick route to it, nor did I find anything nearby when I searched for boat rentals.

All around are signs that this place started well and there was a serious investment in its infrastructure but it hasn't been maintained in many years. The playground is overrun with spider webs and the wooden planks are starting to split. The benches are worn, broken, not kept clean and not repaired when needed. Also, bring DEET if you plan on exploring the nearby woods, they swarm with mosquitoes and ticks (3 of my 5 family members brought ticks into the cottage - thankfully no one got bit by them). All in all, I won't be coming back unless I intend to stay inside while viewing some very beautiful landscape.