TIL the secret to getting real answers from locals is asking at the bait shop, not the visitor center

Spent three weekends trying to find decent swimming holes near Asheville. Visitor center gave me a map with crowded spots. Tried asking at a bait shop on a whim. Guy behind the counter spent ten minutes drawing out hidden spots on a napkin. Said tourists never ask there. Has anyone else found this kind of back channel works better?

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the_claire15h ago

Man, that napkin trick is gold. I had a similar thing happen up in the Adirondacks once. I was trying to find a quiet place to camp that wasn't right next to a bunch of RVs with generators. The ranger station just pointed me to the main campgrounds. But I stopped at a little gas station that also sold fishing licenses and the old guy at the counter said, "You want the old logging road past Miller's Pond, just watch out for the moose." He gave me directions that didn't even make sense on a map. Ended up finding a spot that had this tiny little spring-fed waterfall all to myself. It wasn't even on the forest service map. Those bait shop guys have a whole different network of info that never makes it to any official pamphlet.