"Set the scene.Log cabins. Endless Smoky Mountain scenery. Extraordinary wine and food. The drive in from Knoxville’s small airport goes past Baptist churches, collapsed barns, and ramshackle houses with trampolines and chicken coops and rusted pickups in front yards. Blackberry Mountain feels like an extremely well-managed summer camp for grown-ups.
What’s the story behind it?Blackberry Mountain is the long-awaited sequel to Blackberry Farm, one of the country’s most acclaimed hotels and a pin-up for the New South. Both are owned and run by the Beall family, and fully independent. Blackberry Farm has been around for decades, and really began hitting its stride in the 2000s, as then-proprietor Sam Beall (son of the original owners, Sandy and Kris) expanded and refined the structures and seriously upgraded its food and wine lists. More than half of the 5,200 acres were given over to conservation, and it took many years before the family resolved what to do with the rest. Over time, the idea of a second hotel was born—a sort of adventure-movie alternative to Blackberry Farm’s Southern romance. The Mountain finally opened in February 2019.
What can we expect from our room?Cottage layouts are all roughly the same, although four have a second bedroom and an outdoor spa. The best cottages are the ones lower down, which have complete privacy as no one can look in from below. Our one-bedroom cottage, Bittersweet, was set beside a babbling brook that you’d pay money for a recording of at home; the flagstone terrace had an outdoor fireplace and uninterrupted views over the treetops to the Smokies beyond. Steamers and curling irons stocked under the bathroom sink are a nice touch—this is the South, after all; nobody’s going to dinner without good hair and smooth linens. Up at the ridge top the six Watchman Cabins are smaller, with Egyptian cotton bedding, handwoven rugs and Bose smart speakers. Fashioned out of reclaimed timber from a 19th-century barn, the cabins have no TVs, just floor-to-ceiling windows facing north across the valley.
How about the food and drink?Breakfast and dinner are included in the room rates, lunch billed separately, and you’ll likely be eating on-property for the entire stay. Casual Whippoorwill Lounge does buffet breakfasts and simple lunches, while dinner spot Three Sisters is elegant. Up at the ridge top there’s a third restaurant called the Firetower (inside a restored forest lookout tower) that’s open from breakfast 'til sunset. The latter has fantastic 360-degree views from its glass-walled perch on the summit. In comparison to Blackberry Farm’s hearty, Southern-style menus (buttery grits, fried chicken, pork belly, house-made cheeses, and charcuterie), the food at the Mountain is designed to get you energized and ready for action—with a focus on nourishing, protein- and veg-forward dishes that nonetheless pack bold flavors. Venison, for example, is here for its creotene, which keeps muscles hydrated. There’s also an exceptional braised rabbit, a superb game-and-fennel sausage, and, in season, at least seven varieties of wild mushrooms foraged from the mountain. At Firetower, guests feast on Vietnamese-style summer rolls with Gulf shrimp and braised kale and sweet-potato pizza with mozzarella.
Anything to say about the service?The staff is simply some of the best and brightest in their field, whether their field is fitness instruction, nutritional consulting, fly-fishing, or nature guiding. From the sommeliers to the rock-climbing instructors, there’s an ease and confidence among employees that you don’t often find at a newly opened hotel. That also comes down to Blackberry’s affable take on Southern-style etiquette—polite but authentic and real; formal when called for yet folksy and easygoing when appropriate. You’ll be on a first name basis with Hope (the yoga instructor), Polly Ann (master ceramicist), Chris (the resident sound healer) and Boyd (naturalist and trail guide) before the end of your first Mint Julep.
What type of person stays here?The Active Aesthetes. The clientele are largely urban (many from New York, but also from Atlanta and Dallas and Nashville and Miami), overwhelmingly wealthy (you have to be to afford the three-night minimum here), deeply curious about and motivated by good food and wine and spirits, but also passionate about fitness, wellness, and the idea of a well-rounded life. The Mountain is, so far, a more casual scene than the Farm, which has always been more of a dressed-up, special-occasion place. The crowd here is more Lululemon and DayGlo lycra than seersucker suits and pastel dresses. But they’re often the same people, or at least from the same social milieu.
What’s the neighborhood scene like?The surrounding area (aside from Blackberry Farm, the sister property seven miles west) is very rural and rustic, and there’s not much in the way of restaurants, shops, or other man-made attractions to lure you off-site besides the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and perhaps one of the roadside antiques shops you pass on the way in from Knoxville.
Is there anything you'd change?A more substantial, deeply informative guide to the property, with detailed maps and more information on the flora, fauna, the hotel itself, and the activities. The short field guide that each guest is issued is whimsical enough for a fun read but not quite enough to go on.
Anything we missed?To come to Blackberry Mountain and just chill in your room or lounge by the pool or at the bar would feel… well, you’d feel fine, let’s face it. But there are other places where you can do that. Here you’ll want to sign up for every activity on offer, not least because the expert guides and instructors are some of the very best in the field. If Blackberry Farm is about sitting on a rocking chair on the porch, lazily taking in the view (as a horse-drawn carriage passes by), the Mountain is about getting out there and into the wilderness, pushing your limits, trying new adventures, and learning new skills, whether it’s pottery or paddleboard yoga.
Is it worth it—and why?Absolutely, especially if you’re looking to experience as much as possible. If a hotel is where you aspire to and pretend to be some idealized version of yourself, Blackberry Mountain is where you might actually encounter it. That part of you which wakes up a little earlier, to catch the first break of daylight over the Smokies; which pushes a little harder to climb that rock wall, puts down the phone and instead considers the simple wonder of a 200-year-old oak tree. This is where you find the part of you that still climbs trees and careens down hills at wild speeds on a mountain bike, shouting 'Wheeeee.'" - Peter Jon Lindberg
