Blowing Rock & Boone

Mountain towns along the middle of the Blue Ridge Parkway, with Grandfather Mountain's swinging bridge, the Linn Cove Viaduct, the Moses Cone estate and Linville Falls, plus North Carolina's ski resorts in winter.

Blowing Rock and Boone lie in North Carolina's northwestern 'High Country' at 1,000–1,200 m, with the Blue Ridge Parkway running between the two towns. Blowing Rock has been a summer resort since the 19th century, with a refined, quiet Main Street; Boone, about 13 km north, is the college town home to Appalachian State University, with more places to eat and stay. The best season is fall color around mid-October, when entire ridges turn from yellow to red, though weekend lodging and parking are extremely tight. Summer days are around 25°C, cool and pleasant for hiking and outdoor drama; winter brings North Carolina's biggest cluster of ski resorts; and in late spring, rhododendrons and mountain laurel bloom. The essential experience is driving the Blue Ridge Parkway: from the Moses Cone estate and Price Lake south past the Rough Ridge trail and the Linn Cove Viaduct to Grandfather Mountain, then on to Linville Falls and Gorge. In town, visit The Blowing Rock lookout, the Glen Burney Trail and the Tweetsie Railroad theme park; around Boone are King Street, the original Mast General Store in Valle Crucis and Elk Knob State Park. Getting there: the nearest major airport is Charlotte (about 2 hours' drive); there's no public transportation, so a car is essentially required. Plan on 2–3 days. The Blue Ridge Parkway often closes temporarily in winter ice and snow, so check NPS road conditions before setting out; after Hurricane Helene in 2024, some sections and trails were closed for extended periods, so go by the latest official notices.

Top sights

• Grandfather Mountain – The most iconic peak of the Blue Ridge Mountains. A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve with a swinging bridge, wildlife habitats and high-country tra…
• Mile High Swinging Bridge – The highest pedestrian suspension bridge in the United States, spanning a gorge 80 feet deep, with sweeping views of the Blue Ridge Mountai…
• Linn Cove Viaduct – An S-shaped viaduct winding around the mountainside of Grandfather Mountain. It was the last section of the Blue Ridge Parkway to be comple…
• Linville Falls – The most famous waterfall along the Blue Ridge Parkway. It drops in two tiers into Linville Gorge, with several viewpoints to choose from.
• The Blowing Rock – A cliff overhang that gave the town its name. Updrafts from the roughly 400-meter-deep New River Gorge often blow light objects back up.
• Rough Ridge Trail – A short hiking trail beside the Parkway with a wooden boardwalk and lookout, offering views of the Linn Cove Viaduct and the mountains.
• Moses H. Cone Memorial Park – A summer estate of a Gilded Age textile magnate, with a white Colonial Revival mansion and about 40 km of carriage trails.
• Price Lake (Julian Price Memorial Park) – A quiet lake beside the Blue Ridge Parkway, charming with morning mist and reflections. It offers canoeing, a loop trail around the lake an…
• Linville Gorge Wilderness – A deep wilderness gorge known as the “Grand Canyon of the East.” Hikes to Hawksbill Mountain or Table Rock offer views over the whole canyo…
• Linville Caverns – The only open cave in North Carolina. Blind fish can be seen in the underground stream, making it a good choice for rainy days or visits wi…
• Tweetsie Railroad – A Wild West theme park centered on a steam train dating from 1917. It is the first theme park in North Carolina.
• Blowing Rock Main Street – A pedestrian main street in one of the South's most charming small towns, lined with boutiques, galleries, restaurants and a quiet little p…
• Blowing Rock Art & History Museum – A small modern museum on Main Street showcasing the art, folk traditions and town history of the Appalachian region.
• Glen Burney Trail – A waterfall trail that drops from a town park straight into the gorge, passing two waterfalls; the uphill return is tiring.
• Downtown Boone (King Street) – A mountain town home to Appalachian State University, with an old drugstore, bookshops, craft breweries and bluegrass music along King Stre…
• Horn in the West – An outdoor historical drama running since 1952, telling the story of Appalachian frontier settlers during the American Revolution.
• Daniel Boone Native Gardens – A small native plant garden in Boone showcasing the wildflowers, ferns and rhododendrons of the Appalachian mountains.
• Mast General Store (Valle Crucis) – An old-fashioned country general store opened in 1883, with wooden floors, a cast-iron stove and hundreds of kinds of candy, making it the…
• Elk Knob State Park – A high-elevation state park north of Boone, where the summit trail offers 360-degree views of the mountain ranges of North Carolina, Virgin…
• Appalachian Ski Mtn. – A family-friendly ski area near Blowing Rock, with night skiing, a ski school and an outdoor ice rink.
• Sugar Mountain Resort – North Carolina's largest ski resort, with a vertical drop of about 370 meters, offering skiing, snow tubing and ice skating in winter.
• Beech Mountain Resort – A ski resort in the town at the highest elevation east of the Rockies, which becomes a mountain bike park in summer with a rooftop craft be…
• Hawksnest Snow Tubing & Zipline – An outdoor adventure park on Seven Devils mountain, with the largest snow tubing park in the East in winter and miles of high-wire zip line…

Where to eat

• The Gamekeeper – A game restaurant in a stone house in the woods between Boone and Blowing Rock, known for bison, elk and venison, and c…
• Daniel Boone Inn – A family-style Southern restaurant in one of Boone's oldest buildings, where fried chicken, country ham and biscuits co…
• Speckled Trout – A mountain restaurant and bottle shop at the Main Street junction in Blowing Rock, serving local trout six ways, with t…
• Melanie's Food Fantasy – A longtime Boone brunch spot founded in 1991, now on Howard Street, known for eggs Benedict and stuffed French toast.
• Vidalia Restaurant & Wine Bar – A farm-to-table Southern bistro on King Street in Boone, sourcing from High Country farms, with a wine list of over 200…

Itineraries

• Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway & Great Smoky Mountains Tour – Drive south along Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway from Shenandoah to the Great Smoky Mountains.