I always say the Miata community is one of the friendliest groups of people to be a part of, and while I myself am not a Miata driver, I have owned one in the past and am married to an avid Miata enthusiast, so we’ve been involved with this group off and on for nearly two decades. Despite this, it was our first time being able to attend Miata’s at the Gap though I’m very certain it will not be our last.

We headed up Thursday after meeting up with another Atlanta local and took a few different scenic routes on our way, enjoying the fantastic mountain air and rolling hills. We hit a few overlooks on the Cherahola, then headed for the Dragon, where we dipped off into a pull off and watched the traffic pass by for a bit. When we are in this area we usually stay at a little glamping spot in Bryson City – Gorgeous Stays – which puts us a little further away from all the action, but offers a welcome reprieve from all the noise. After check in we made sure to head out to catch the first official drive of the event, the sunset cruise. Even though it was Thursday evening and a lot of people were still yet to make the journey for the weekend, the event was large and overflowed the overlook in both directions along the road.

We elected to tackle only two more group drives over the weekend- the Friday morning spirited drive and the NC drive Saturday (despite being in an NB, thought we were invited by the organizer of the event)- but we spent countless hours driving the roads near the Fontana Village. It was nice to get to explore the area without a large group sometimes, but we were absolutely never far from another Miata, often passing them also out solo adventuring or in groups out enjoying the beauty that the area offers in every direction.

Saturday after the NC drive we met up with some other Georgia locals and watched the traffic go by hunkered down in gravity cavity- so if you were on the dragon Saturday between 1:50 and 330pm, there may be photos of you. We also got to explore the Foothills parkway and catch an absolutely stunning sunset.

We missed the big group photo and so many of the events, there were probably some vendors we could have checked out more thoroughly, but despite knowing we were missing so many of these things, our weekend didn’t feel like we missed a single thing. This event packs in something for everyone and there’s always something going on to experience. Or, if you’re like us, there’s some fun camaraderie to be had in the village at any time, some drives to join in on and lots of things to watch and experience all on your own. Due to the sheer amount of photos I have edited, not all of them are posted here on the blog. If you have seen one of yourself you’d like to download a full size file of, or would like to view the full gallery, you can do so by visiting my shootproof here: https://kproctorphotography.shootproof.com/MATG2025
I’ve made downloads free for this gallery, but if you’d like to support the insane amounts of caffeine that keep this going, you can always “Buy me a coffee“