Category: Blowing Rock

Wildlife Habitat Daily Programs at Grandfather Mountain

This October, and every April through October, Grandfather Mountain offers a guided tour through the special Animal Habitats in the mountain park! These are great opportunities to see each wild animal active in their natural habitat close to the overlook of their habitat.

On Grandfather Mountain, many of the native species such as the bears, otters, and elk have very large, designated wildlife habitats which have large moats or retaining walls in designated viewing era for guests. During a normal day, the animals are not consistently visible as the habitats are very large. But that is different on certain hours each day.

Daily, at certain hours, a keeper will bring special scents or toys out to entice the animals to come closer to the viewing area for people to enjoy them. The keeper will then offer interesting facts about the different animals. This happens daily every half from 11am through 4pm at the different habitats.

There is no additional fee to enjoy these wildlife habitats. They are included with the price of admission. You do need to schedule visits to Grandfather Mountain ahead of time though.

William Kradel Leave a comment on Wildlife Habitat Daily Programs at Grandfather Mountain Banner Elk, Blowing Rock, Boone, Hiking, Hiking, Outdoor Fun, Tours

Woolly Worm Festival in Banner Elk

It is finally autumn! And with the seasons changing also comes the beautiful autumn colors of the trees as well as woolly worms! And this October 15 and 16 in Banner Elk is the 45th annual woolly worm festival! 

The festival takes place the 3rd weekend of October in downtown Banner Elk and is a very unique festival. Attended annually by about 20,000 people, up to 1,000 people bring their own woolly worms and race them! The winner takes home $1,000 on Saturday and $500 on Sunday.

Of course, in addition to the food, there is great food as well as arts and craft vendors. Many of these are woolly worm themed so are very unique. There also will be great local music and breathtaking views of the mountains to take in!

Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for children 6-12 and free for those 5 and under. 

William Kradel Leave a comment on Woolly Worm Festival in Banner Elk Banner Elk, Blowing Rock, Boone, Concerts and Events, Festival, Outdoor Fun

App State College Football Season Kickoff

College football is back! After some exciting Thursday night games, it is Appalachian State’s turn to kickoff the season with a great game against UNC tomorrow, Saturday, September 3 at noon. Here are some reminders for the game:

Traffic will be very, very heavy. So make sure to account for this when scheduling how long it will take to travel anywhere.

When driving, make sure to be even more aware of your surroundings. There will be more people than usual who are not as familiar with the area driving around so may make more sudden stops or turns.

If you are tailgating or watching the game make sure to assign a designated driver who is not drinking alcohol to make sure you are safe when driving home

William Kradel Leave a comment on App State College Football Season Kickoff Blowing Rock, Boone, Concerts and Events, Festival, Outdoor Fun, Tours

Restaurants in Blowing Rock

Blowing Rock always has plenty of activities to do which can entertain throughout the whole day. And if you are spending an entire day in Blowing Rock, that means you will need to eat. So what is there to eat in Blowing Rock?

On Main Street, there are a few options. Mellow Mushroom is a pizza restaurant which offers many types of stone-baked pizza with many varieties. They also do plain pizzas for those who just want that. Don’t let the name scare you away. You don’t HAVE to have mushrooms.

Also located on Main Street is the Six Pence Pub. Offering a wide variety of comfort food such as chips and burgers, they are open for lunch and dinner. They also have a wide variety of seasonal beer.

Between Ransom street and Sunset drive, located south of Main Street is a Famous Toastery. Famous Toastery is a great place to start your day with breakfast or brunch with food such as toast and of course have some coffee and/or orange juice.

William Kradel Leave a comment on Restaurants in Blowing Rock Blowing Rock, Restaurants

Fishing in the Boone Area

Its finally Spring! that means it’s time to go fishing! Fortunately, the Boone area has many fishing spots to take advantage of. Here are a few:

Just outside the pristine town of Blowing Rock is Bass Lake. Lined with rhododendron and mountain laurel, the lake offers a 1.7 mile loop which is great for fishing and hiking.

Another fishing spot which is located off the Blue Ridge Parkway is Price Lake. In addition to its plentiful fishing spots, they also offer fishing tackle rentals and sell bait. You can also rent canoes and kayaks to take out onto the lake when you want to take a break.

Also near the Blue Ridge Parkway is Trout Lake. In addition to fishing, Trout Lake has a1 hiking path with plenty of wildlife. The lake is set in a hemlock-dominated cove forest with ancient conifers and thickets of rhododendron which makes it a wonderful place to enjoy a day of fishing.

William Kradel Leave a comment on Fishing in the Boone Area Blowing Rock, Boone, Fishing, Outdoor Fun

Hiking on Grandfather Mountain

One of the most popular excursions in the Boone area is visiting Grandfather Mountain. The mountain has plenty of activities to do from visiting the museum, multiple animal habitats to observe, and of course trails to hike with the mile high swinging bridge as the highlight.

If you are looking for casual trails to hike, Grandfather Mountain does have those too. The Black Rock Trail is a 1 mile trail which offers lots of stunning mountain views and rock formations. It is a mostly shaded trail and only descends a total of 300 feet so is a not very strenuous walk back to the car.

The Woods Walk & Picnic Area is a 1/2 mile trail which is perfect for all ages, including small children. It is a very wide trail with many benches to sit down and rest. There are also signs along the trail which describe the different plants and animals in the park.

The Bridge Trail is another 1/2 mile trail which ascends 300 feet in elevation and has many rock formations on the side to enjoy. The highlight of the trail is walking under the mile high swinging bridge. This trail is slightly more strenuous than the others but not too bad.

William Kradel Leave a comment on Hiking on Grandfather Mountain Blowing Rock, Boone, Hiking, Hiking, Outdoor Fun