welcome valley village adventure guide

find your adventure

Welcome Valley Village is located in Polk County, Tennessee, bordering both Western North Carolina and North Georgia. Our rental cabins are located just a few miles outside the Cherokee National Forest, which is best known for its great rivers and numerous opportunities for outdoor recreation and scenic drives. The nearby cities of Cleveland, Blue Ridge, and Chattanooga offer a wide variety of shopping, dining, entertainment, and first-class tourist attractions. Our area’s rich history is showcased by the Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association.

ocoee whitewater center

white water rafting

Just two miles from our rental cabin village, you can connect to The Ocoee Scenic Byway which traverses the Cherokee National Forest from east to west along Highway 64. The Byway offers particularly beautiful scenery along a 4 mile stretch of Lake Ocoee and through the Ocoee River Gorge. Along the Byway, don’t miss the Ocoee Whitewater Center where you can stroll among the terraces of the colorful Native Garden, see the racecourse used for the 1996 Olympic Canoe and Kayak Slalom competition, visit the gift shop, explore the hiking and mountain bike trails, or take a cool swim at the “blue hole,” a favorite river spot among locals for generations.

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chilhowee mountain

hiking & mountain biking

Just 6 miles from our Village, Forest Service Road 77 climbs the breathtaking route up Chilhowee Mountain to the Chilhowee Recreation Area where families can enjoy swimming in a mountain lake (with sandy beach), picnicking, hiking, or mountain biking along numerous woodland trails. Many families staying at our Village enjoy the short hike back to Benton Falls which begins at Chilhowee Lake.Along the picturesque Lake Ocoee are two public swimming beaches, picnic areas, boat ramps, and a marina. At the marina, you can rent a canoe, fishing boat, or pontoon boat for the day or by the hour.

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ocoee & hiwassee river

tubing & boating

For a more relaxing river experience, many of our guests enjoy tubing or boating the lower section of the Ocoee River where our Village is located. You can put in 3 miles “up river” from our Village at Sugarloaf Mountain Park. From there, you can lay back in your tube, glide along the swift-moving water, and gaze up at the huge trees that line this section of the river until you reach our Village about an hour and a half later.

Several companies in the area offer guided tubing trips on this lower “slower” section of the Ocoee River. Or you can do your own self-guided trip – all you need are your own lifejackets, tubes, and two vehicles (one to drive to the put-in and another to leave here at the Village).

The nearby Hiwassee River offers an “in-between” river experience – several easy to moderate rapids mixed with some slower stretches of water.