One day I would drive the Blue Ridge Parkway from Cherokee to Asheville.

I can help out with your question on the village. We visited last year. It's a guided tour, and with the stops throughout, I'd allot around an hour or so. You are free to go back and re-visit any area you'd like after the tour.

Biltmore is an amazing estate where you can easily spend a day, but many find the price tag steep, and I know that not all kids enjoy it. It really depends on the child. My daughter was rather bored there (she was 9 when we visited), but it was extremely hot that day, and she got pretty antsy after a while. Other kids go and love it; it really depends on what interests them.

Have a good trip.

I don't think Asheville/Hendersonville/Biltmore is as close to Cherokee as you might think. Remember in the mountains, you got vertical distance as well as horizontal. With roads winding in between mountains and valleys, there's more distance than it appears on a map. Just something to consider.

As others said the village is great...a coupla hours should be plenty.

There's also a Cherokee Museum if that's your thing...haven't been since I was a kid but I recall it was well done and that's about an hour's worth of activity there.

I really think you should also consider the outdoor drama, "Trail of Tears". I enjoyed that alot when I was your daughter's age. It tells the story of the tribe so it's educational, but the acting, the tribal dance scenes and so forth made it a pretty interesting show!

Of course right over the road is the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The forest will be quite green and lush in summer....some nice trails along creeks can be found there. I think there's also an old abandoned mill you can tour too.

I live in Sylva and can be in Asheville in about 50 minutes via the interstate. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a great way to get to Asheville.

I would suggest taking your daughter on the Nantahala River for a nice white water rafting trip. The Nanty is about 25 minutes from Cherokee off of US 74.

Other interesting things to do with your family are to go tubing at Deep Creek which is near Bryson City and in GSMNP. being August you could also rent a pontoon boat or take a high speed jet boat ride on Lake Fontana which is just west of Bryson City.

If you are into mining, try gem mining in Franklin.

Yet another water oriented gig is to drive about an hour and take nature's water slide in the Pisgah National Forests at Sliding Rock Recreation Area.

You can see the elk in Cataloochee in GSMNP outside of Maggie Valley.

These are just a few of the things to do here...

Drive on South of Franklin down to Highlands, NC. Pretty little moutain town with some very good places to eat. A bit pricey. Nice area with several really good waterfalls nearby. You will pass two or three coming from Franklin. A couple others are easy drive, including highest single falls east of mississippi River.

You could head east from there toward Cashiers and then up through Pisgah Forest to the Blue Ridge Parkway all the way back to Cherokee. Drive up the road north toward sliding rock and the demo forest and that will put you back on the Blue Ridge Parkway without having to loop through Hendersonville or Asheville. This is a pretty drive. Not too far after you get on Parkway headed west, you will see a nice waterfall. You can park and walk down to lower fall and it has a nice pool that you can wade or swim in. I wished I had know this when we went as i did not carry swimming apparel that walk.

If you go farther south (after turnoff to Franklin) into the Nantahalla Gorge that is a beautiful drive. Can raft here, I suggest weekdays as weekends are crowded. If you kept on going down that road you would end up in Murphy, NC, which is infamous for where Eric Robert Rudolph held up (he was the Atlanta Olympic Bomber). Pretty drive through the gorge into the valley.

Right after Franklin turnoff if you go Rigth (Westward) you will see Fontana Lake on Right. Drive along southern bank to Fontana Dam (neat) and a bit farther to Joyce Kilmer Old Growth forest.

Be sure to drive up Newfound Gap Rd from Cherokee through the Park. Do side trip to Clingmans Dome and hike up to tower if you have time. Check out Oconaluftee Visitor Center (Cherokee side of park) and then Mingo's Mill is nice short side trip on up road. Stop at Sugarland Visitor Center when you get to north side of park, then right to Gatlinburg (touristy and a bit crowded, but Roaring Fork Motor Trail is really great). Or turn left along Little River road and head east toward Townsend. Lots of pretty places along way and end destination could be Cades Cove. this would be a long day. Google Great Smokey Mountains National park and check out Auto Tours for more info. Also look at Waterfalls, etc. You can download a pretty decent park map.

Another option is north up toward Maggie Valley. Ghost town is reopened and was a big vacation destination back in the day. Just before you get to I-40 (Interstate to Asheville), you can turn left and go back up into Cataloochee Valley. Again check out GSMNP Auto Tour for info and directions). This is a beautiful out of the way valley that is well worth the drive. Allow at least 1/2 day for this. For where you are staying I would do Maggie Valley over Pigeon Forge to avoid the extra driving. If you do go to Pigeon Forge, check out Gatlinburg too. That said Gatlinburg is crowded traffic wise and a bit sticky for parking.

I would not suggest Asheville unless a special trip to Biltmore, which is nice but pricey.

Be aware Cherokee is a hokey tourist town that is throwback to 50s/60s style places. I will be tacky lookinkg to one from Europe, heck it is tacky looking to me from central GA. Just go with the kitschy them and enjoy the beautiful mountains. The people are really nice. This is one of the few places where the American Indians were able to keep part of ancestral land, the Eastern Cherokee Band stayed here when most were marched west during the Trail of Tears. Goggle that for more info.

If you have some specific questions I would be glad to try to help. I am also pretty familiar with Savannah and Charleston. In addition, if you click my name link you will probably find more info on above areas that you will want to read.

I think your daughter would enjoy Pigeon Forge and you could probably spend a day there in itself especially if you plan on going to dollywood or water country. There is much for kids to do in the Pigeon Forge Gatlinburg area area.