Biltmore Estate
Biltmore Estate
Enjoy Western Carolina
Western North Carolina. You won’t find a better combination of lifestyle amenities anywhere. The mountain views, old-growth forests, lakes, rivers, streams and waterfalls have drawn families for hundreds of years.
Few climates anywhere can match the pleasant weather enjoyed year-round in western North Carolina. The cool summer evenings have been luring visitors to the area for generations. Winter brings snow to the mountains—just enough to add seasonal charm without any significant inconvenience.
Visitors to the sestern North Carolina mountains don’t have any problems finding things to do. There is a wide variety of outdoor activities that the western North Carolina mountains are ideally suited for, such as camping, hiking, rafting, skiing, fishing and golfing.
Western North Carolina also offers numerous opportunities to enjoy and participate in cultural events and attractions, along with family-friendly activities.
Brevard Music Center Advanced Quartet
(Peter Checchia, photographer)
Cultural Events and Attractions
Western North Carolina answers the call for lively and creative culture.
Features handmade jewelry, pottery, ironwork, glass, baskets, prints and much more from members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild, recognized worldwide for excellence in craftsmanship and design for 75 years. Hours: Apr.–Dec. open daily 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Jan.–Mar. open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This annual event featuring live music, delicious food and local artisan wares is held in Asheville each July and is often called “one of the country’s greatest street festivals.”
Biltmore Station Antiques
This annual event featuring live music, delicious food and local artisan wares is held in Asheville each July and is often called “one of the country’s greatest street festivals.”
Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, the Brevard Music Center (BMC) has been providing young musicians with the opportunity to develop their talents for sixty-eight years.
Each summer more than 400 students, ages 14 through post-college, join professional musicians to eat, breathe and sleep music for seven weeks. In addition to a rigorous schedule of instruction, students collaborate with faculty and guest artists in more than eighty public performances.
Asheville’s only downtown cinema is located in the heart of the art and entertainment district. Dedicated to first-run and independent films. Two screens in an elegant, historic, Art Deco building. AC.
North Carolina’s State Theatre invites you to enjoy the finest Broadway musicals, comedy, drama and youth theater. Flat Rock Playhouse's professional company presents each May through December.
Folkmoot USA, North Carolina's Official International Festival, is a two-week celebration of the world's cultural heritage through folk music and dance. Held each summer across the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina, Folkmoot features performances, parades and workshops by more than 350 performers from a dozen or so countries.
The Bard presented in an open-air amphitheatre by the Montford Park Players, North Carolina's oldest established Shakespeare company.
The WNC Jazz Society presents monthly shows of excellent straight-ahead acoustic jazz at Asheville’s Diana Wortham Theater. Featured artists have or will include Larry Coryell, Wycliffe Gordon, Eric Alexander, Freddy Cole and Bill Charlap.
From exploring history to hiking the great outdoors, western North Carolina has plenty of activities for kids of all ages.
Family Attractions
Western North Carolina was made for family adventure. You can visit some of the historical sites in the area such as The Flat Rock Playhouse, The Biltmore Estate and Carl Sandburg’s Home.
Or, try some of these family-friendly activities:
See the best of Asheville on board a vintage trolley and enjoy a fully narrated trolley tour covering all major points of interest in Asheville including: the Grove Park Inn, Biltmore Village, the Grove Arcade, the Montford Historic District, the downtown shopping and restaurants district, the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, the Asheville Museum and Art Gallery district, the Asheville Chamber and Visitors Center and much more.
This 10-acre nonprofit nature preserve (next to UNCA) is dedicated to preserving and displaying the native flora of the Southern Appalachians. Garden-themed gift shop. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated and memberships are encouraged.
Nestled below the Blue Ridge Parkway on Hwy. 276 is a unique historic site the whole family can enjoy- the Cradle of Forestry and the Forest Discovery Center. The Cradle of Forestry is the birthplace of forestry in America. It was home of the first forestry school in the United States in 1898 called the Biltmore Forest School. Today this historic site offers guided tours through the old campus of the Biltmore Forest School, with cultural interpreters at the historic buildings. You may meet a weaver, a quilter, a toy maker or even a basket maker. Inside the Forest Discovery Center you can see an 18-minute movie, then explore 15 hands-on exhibits. Kids, be sure to try the scavenger hunt, then ride the fire fighting helicopter simulator.
Falcon AirLink, Inc., is a locally owned and operated helicopter tour service based out of the Asheville Regional Airport. Falcon Airlink provides air service for both business and pleasure within the Western North Carolina Mountains and Upstate South Carolina. Services provided include: sightseeing and custom aerial rides; aerial photography platform; aerial surveys; search and rescue assistance and much more.
Grandad’s Apples N’ Such is a family owned and operated business since 1994, with four generations of apple growing experience. You can pick your own or they will have them picked for you. Inside the barn you can find delicious apple pies, carmel apples, fresh cider (made here), local honey, local canned goods, such as apple butter, chow chow, etc., local crafts and fall merchandise.
The highest peak in the Blue Ridge and a globally recognized nature preserve. The Mile High Swinging Bridge; bears, cougars, otters and other animals in their natural habitats; picnic areas; the South’s best hiking trails. Take I-40 East to Marion, NC. Take Exit #85 and follow U.S. 221 North to the entrance of Grandfather Mountain. Phone: (828) 733-4337
With 25 acres of apples and a wide range of apple varieties from which to choose, your visit to Justus Orchard will reward you with one of nature’s most versatile fruits. You can pick your own apples, or they can pick them for you, but whichever way you like it you’re sure to find the variety of apple you love.
Step aboard and discover one of the most spectacular lakes in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Daily hourly tours, evening champagne, and dinner cruises. Or, rent a boat from the marina and explore the lake on your own.
Visit the fruit stand and take home some fresh-picked apples, apple cider, jams, jellies and so much more. Located on 12 acres in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, Mountain Fresh Orchards is family-owned and has existed since 1981.
This Wild West theme park features a three-mile steam-powered train ride through the North Carolina mountains. Shopping, live entertainment, amusement park rides and a petting zoo.
Troll the lakes or wade into the streams and catch your limit in this fisherman’s paradise
Fishing
Western North Carolina offers hundreds of miles of spectacularly clear streams and one of the most diverse fishing habitats in the world.
Strategically located in the heart of some of the best trout fishing and smallmouth bass fishing in the country.
Swain County's streams and lakes are a fisherman's paradise.
CCS Fly Fishing Outfitters offers guided fishing trips in Western North Carolina, The Great Smoky Mountains National Park and surrounding areas.
Whether you enjoy hunting, fishing, boating or are just interested in Tarheel wildlife, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is here to enrich your outdoor experiences.
A full service fly shop and outfitters located right on the banks of the beautiful Oconoluftee River in Cherokee North Carolina.
Grab a tee-time at one of the dozens of tournament level area golf courses.
Golf
Western North Carolina’s mountains offer the golfer a variety of courses from wide river valleys and rolling terrains to fairways that roll and pitch with Mother Nature's challenge.
- Champion Hills
- Cummings Cove Golf & Country Club
- Etowah Valley Country Club
- Fairfield Mountains Resort
- Kenmure
- Lake Toxaway Country Club
- Links O' Tryon
- Maggie Valley Club
- Springdale Country Club
For a comprehensive guide to golf courses in Western North Carolina, visit Great Smoky Mountains Golf.
Astounding views and breathtaking waterfalls await outdoor adventurers in western North Carolina.
Hiking
There are hundreds of waterfalls and miles of hiking trails in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina. You could spend a lifetime and never do the same hike twice.
Western North Carolina's part of the trail follows the NC/ TN boundary then winds through the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina with views of the southern Appalachians and Great Smoky Mountains.
If you're traveling near Brevard, NC, don't miss the opportunity to see High Falls and Triple Falls. The hike is relatively easy and the views are absolutely spectacular.
Grandfather Mountain is the highest peak in the Blue Ridge mountain range and a globally recognized nature preserve. Stand head and shoulders above the surrounding region, be struck with awe by 360-degree views of mountain ridge after mountain ridge retreating to the horizon, and discover sanctuary for the human spirit.
Ridge upon ridge of endless forest straddles the border between North Carolina and Tennessee in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. World renowned for the diversity of its plant and animal life, the beauty of its ancient mountains, and the quality of its remnants of Southern Appalachian mountain culture, this is America’s most visited national park.
You'll pass through the first of many grassy, open meadows, after which the trail will wrap around the ridge and start heading South. It begins following an apparently unnamed stream uphill. You'll gradually get closer and closer to the stream, and it sounds like there may be a waterfall on the stream far below you.
The trail starts at the back of the parking area behind the large sign board. At the parking lot, you are just shy of 5000' in elevation and you are in the midst of the high-elevation northern hardwood forest. You will be in this forest, dominated by oaks, all the way to the summit, although you will see some birches, maples, beeches, and spruces and firs mixing in at times, as well as many other less common species.
This hike is a beautiful couple of hours. The views from the top are awe inspiring at the least. There are many side trips that can be added on if the trip to the top isn't enough.
This is a great hike for kids. It's short, easy, and safe with all the things kids like for the entire hike: a creek, big rocks and a spectacular view at the end.
For more Western North Carolina hiking trail reviews, visit Hike WNC.
Feel the excitement of taking on the whitewater on a rafting expedition, or enjoy a relaxing float down a lazy mountain river.
Rafting / Kayaking
Rafting is big in Western North Carolina. A number of outfitters offer whitewater rafting at various levels for all ages.
Endless River Adventures offers expert kayak instruction and guided kayak touring on the rivers and lakes of Western North Carolina.
Whether its adventure and excitement of whitewater rafting or the ease and relaxation of a calm water trip, French Broad Rafting Expeditions is the rafting outfitter for you, your family, or your group.
A group of professional NC whitewater rafting and rock climbing outfitters and guides, located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, near Asheville and Boone, NC.
Thrill to the challenge and excitement of whitewater rafting on the most popular River in the Southeast. Enjoy the scenic splendor of the Nantahala National Forest and the Great Smoky Mountains as you paddle the clean cold waters of the Nantahala River.
Since 1972, NOC has shared the outdoors with millions of guests. Located in Western North Carolina near the Great Smoky Mountains.
Snow bunnies will find many challenging slopes to ski in western North Carolina.
Skiing
Whether you're interested in powder and challenge or just a casual day with the family, you can find it right here in Western North Carolina's beautiful mountains.
Wolf Laurel
Just north of the Asheville area.
Contact: (828) 689-4111, or toll free: (800) 817-4111
Cataloochee
Maggie Valley in Haywood County.
Contact: (800) 768-0285
Ski Beech
Boone area.
Snow Reports: (800) 438-2093
Lodging: (800) 462-3324
Sugar Mountain
Boone area.
Information: (800) 784-2768, or (828) 898-4521
Hawksnest
Boone area.
Ski Report: (828) 963-6563
For your group planning: (800) 822-4295
Appalachian Ski Mtn
Boone area.
Ski Report: (828) 295-7823
Reservations / Group information: (800) 322-2373
