The fall colors are beautiful, particularly in the valleys, with the hills on either side. They are great places so stop and get a feel for what hometown America is like. One of those towns is Madison, which sits right on the river beneath 400-foot bluffs and is filled with more than 1,300 historic structures, including three National Historic Landmarks. As part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the route also offers numerous opportunities for sweeping mountain vistas filled with fall color, along with pristine lakes, rivers and more than 50 waterfalls ranging up to 700 feet in height. About midway on the byway is Table Rock State Park.
People stop all the time.
Fall is a perfect time to do that. The mountains are framed on either end by flat orchard regions, with Cherokee and Spartanburg counties in the east, famous for their peach orchards, and Oconee in the west on the Georgia border, known for its many apple orchards. It was the site of a Revolutionary War battle in 1781. The first small town you come to is Chesney. Nobody has to read the local newspaper, because everybody knows what's in it before it is written.