Hiking the local mountains, With mountains,flat lands,forest and gorges in and around Cherokee County, there are hundreds of miles of some of the best hiking trails the southern Appalachian Mountains have to offer.  Of the 341 trails across the 25 westernmost counties in North Carolina, nearly 100 of them intersect an area that either lies within ,or borders Cherokee County-each less than an hour's drive from Murphy.The Appalachian Trail, one of the most renowend and challenging tracks in the nation, is included in Cherokee County's trails. It stretches more than 2,100 miles from Georgia to Maine. The Benton MacKaye Trail also is open to those wishing a tough,physical challenge,and either trail can experienced in its entirety.Shorter,yet still challenging, trails around Cherokee County include the 26-miloe Rim Trail that cicles Firres Creek. Firres Creek is home to many different specice of plants and wildlife and provides additional shorter hiking trails.Next door in Clay County,trals including Far Bald Springs,Huskins Branch, Little Fires Creek,Rockhouse Creek andthe Standing Indian Mountain-Deep Gap Trail give hikers abevy of opportunities to take in beautiful mountain landscapes of western North Carolian. Crossing the border into Georgia,hikers can access 20 more trails in Fannin County.Some of the more popular trails Fannin County has to offer include Eyes on Wildlife,Fall Branch-Weaver Creek,Flat Creek Loop,Free Knob Loop,Green Mountain and the Lake Blue Ridge trail.Tri-County Community College in Peachtree formed a hiking club in 2007 that is still active,while the Tri-state Wanderers is another second-year club in Cherokee County that continues to organize hikes. To contact the Wanderers,call Clyde Godschall at 610-413-6281. For Tri-County club,call 828-837-6810 or vist www.tcc.cc.nc.us.     This came for The Cherokee Scout,www.cherokeescout.com  Murphy N.C.Your Mountain View Specialist,Jack Shingler,Broker,Exit Realty Mountain View Properties,877-837-2288,or 321-279-1049,and you can go too my website,www.mountainwineandhomes.com,Jack Shingler,Broker Exit Realty Mountain View Properties.http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=82029159221&h=y-_cK&u=JWTW9&ref=nf