Maggie Valley is located in west-central Haywood County at . U.S. Route 19 is the main road through the town, leading east to Asheville and west over Soco Gap to Cherokee. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, all of it land.
Wildlife
were copious throughout the United States, but numbers have decreased since the mid-1800s because of over-hunting and habitat loss. In 2001, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the National Park Service and other partners joined together to restore wild elk to the Smoky Mountains in the Cataloochee Valley near Maggie Valley. Most elk are found in Cataloochee Valley, which is a perfect viewing area in the southeastern section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. However, the elk have been known to wander out of the park and walk toward the nearby town of Maggie Valley. The best times to view elk are in the early morning and late evening. Not only are there elk around Maggie Valley, but occasionally there are black bears. Bears are found in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and occasionally in the areas around Maggie Valley. During winter, the black bears are inactive for a short amount of time and exhibit some physiological responses to low food storage and temperatures. However, the results of them not hibernating for a long time is that there are more bear sightings. This is risky because they can be looking for food in neighborhoods or killed on roads.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 607 people, 297 households, and 179 families residing in the town. The population density was 372.8 people per square mile. There were 565 housing units at an average density of 347.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 96.38% White, 1.32% African American, 0.66% Native American, 0.66% Asian, 0.16% from other races, and 0.82% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.16% of the population. There were 297 households, out of which 16.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.2% were married couplesliving together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.7% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.04 and the average family size was 2.56. In the town, the population was spread out with 14.0% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 23.2% from 25 to 44, 33.8% from 45 to 64, and 23.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $29,808, and the median income for a family was $40,417. Males had a median income of $27,813 versus $20,865 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,211. About 9.8% of families and 11.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.2% of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over.
Notable people and events
Maggie Valley is the birthplace of legendary moonshiner Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton. Elk were reintroduced into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Maggie Valley in 2001.
