Blackberry Farm

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Hotel Name: Blackberry Farm

Number of Rooms: 65

Location: 25 minutes from Knoxville Airport or three hours’ drive to Nashville, in the foothills of the Smokies.

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This celebrated Smoky Mountain retreat, with its 65 rooms and 9,200 acres, is impossibly luxurious for a farmstead. The bucolic woodland surroundings give guests the chance to foxhunt, cycle, canoe, fly fish, or relax in the most beautiful of settings, and the legendary cuisine makes returning after a day of activity seem like the ultimate treat. Blackberry Farm plays host to famous chefs every month and sources handcrafted ingredients from the resident beekeepers, farmers, and cheese makers; nightly dinners in the 18th-century barn are warm and inviting affairs.

What We Loved: Is there a destination out there with a name as hazily evocative as the Great Smoky Mountains? Epicures head to this romantic pocket of the country to indulge in Americana gone gourmet – this isn’t just farm-to-table, it’s table in the middle of farm.

What We Didn’t Love: On-property activities are charged a la carte, which takes away from the feeling of relaxed luxury.

Right For: Metropolitan families looking to escape to a land of lawns and lambs; Couples with big appetites for epic Foothills Cuisine and the stamina to work through a world-class wine cellar.

Wrong For: City slickers afraid to get their boots muddy; Dieters.

Best Time to Visit: May-June, September-Early November

TLF Tip: The property hosts specialty weekends throughout the year, like a fall yoga retreat with an outdoor practice platform among the changing leaves, or a 2-day gluten free cooking workshop with the founder of Jovial Foods.