North Carolina High Country Travel Guide

I wouldn’t have expected that I’d want to visit the mountains more than the beach when we moved to Charlotte but that is how it has turned out. They are closer than the beach here but coming in the summer we get a break from the oppressive heat in Charlotte, coming in the winter we can see snow we don’t actually get in Charlotte. I talked about the Brevard area in my last blog post, and I have one about Asheville but this one is about the high country of North Carolina - the higher elevation areas of Blowing Rock, Boone and Banner Elk. The towns easy to travel between and can easily be seen in one trip.

Views from Grandfather Mountain

Arrival

Just like any mountain area in North Carolina, you’ll need a car. And depending on the time of year, you may want 4 wheel drive. The Asheville and Charlotte airports are about a 2 hour drive to the area, depending on where you are staying. Asheville is a regional airport but hosts American, Delta and United but also lower cost airlines like Allegiant and Sun Country.

Traversing mountain roads in the winter can be pretty but a bit dangerous!

Stay

There are a lot of hotels in the area, Boone has several of them including lots of chain hotel options, mainly due to Appalachian State University being there. Blowing Rock has some smaller ones. With ASU being in the area, it’s going to be harder to find accommodations when events are happening on campus - like a football game! We’ve stayed at the Hampton Inn in Boone a few times. It’s on the edge of town and it’s the closest hotel to our favorite brewery (more on it below). The Courtyard by Marriott in Boone is on our list to stay on in the future because it’s walking distance to a lot of spots. There are surprisingly no hotels that are in actual downtown Boone. That’s not the case in Blowing Rock where there are a lot of small, independent spots. We stayed at the Blowing Rock Inn and it was an easy walk to things (even in the snow - we got about 6 inches the night we stayed there, see below). Next time we want to stay at the Blowing Rock Ale House & Inn because it’s connected to the Blowing Rock Brewery! Banner Elk has a Best Western, some smaller spots like Blowing Rock and the large Sugar Mountain Resort.

For vacation rentals, you’ll find them scattered around the area but there is a huge condensed area of them at Sugar Mountain and Beech Mountain, and at the base of those mountains, Banner Elk. We stayed recently, in this Airbnb. It had views of Grandfather Mountain which were just stunning off the back deck, especially because we went in fall.

Banner Elk Airbnb Views

See

Boone is home to Appalachian State. You can wander the campus or take in a football game. I mean, who wouldn’t want to see the team that has the Greatest Upset of them All? #GoBucks One of the restaurants we went to even had the Sports Illustrated cover of this framed and on the wall. 😂

Of course, the outdoor activities are where it’s at in the area. Grandfather Mountain is home to its namesake mountain where you can traverse the Mile High Swinging Bridge. Personally, I like seeing the otters and other animals at the wildlife habitats and buying some fudge from the shop. You can also visit The Blowing Rock as it’s not just the name of a town! There is a legend on what has happened there but it really just has some spectacular views. Linville Gorge and Linville Falls are some more stunning areas in the region to visit. Linville Falls is beautiful and has a wide range of difficulty in terms of trails. There are some easier ones - meaning the paths are well worn but there are some steep parts. Which are just impossible to avoid in the mountains. Like any recreation area, get there early to have lesser crowds.  Weather can also be a huge factor in some of these spots and may be closed in the winter due to bad conditions so check online or call before you go. And, of course, Sugar Mountain and Beech Mountain are popular for skiing, but both spots have some things to do year round.  The Blue Ridge Parkway is nearby and is the perfect place to go for a drive in the spring, summer and especially fall.

Below: Beech Mountain, Grandfather Mountain, Linville Falls

Food & Drink

Boone 

Of course brewery spots are at the top of my list! Booneshine Brewery is our #1 favorite in the area (and, really one of our favorites in the state). They started out in a strip mall sharing a spot with a restaurant when we found them. Now they have a huge and beautiful facility with their own restaurant and good food.  Also in Boone is Appalachian Brewery and Lost Province Brewery which is downtown and serves some good pizza. For non-brewery spots we liked Cobo Sushi and The Local. 

Blowing Rock

Blowing Rock Brewery is definitely a good spot and you can get food there as well. We also liked the Foggy Rock Eatery & Pub - it had good food and beer and just felt mountain-y inside. There are also good standbys there like Famous Toastery and Mellow Mushroom. 

Banner Elk

Banner Elk has a couple breweries. One is Beech Mountain Brewery (at Beech Mountain of course) and Kettell Beerworks. We sat outside there and just stared at the beautiful fall leaves on the mountains across the street. They also had good beer and a basic food list. There are also several wineries in the area - Banner Elk Winery, Linville Falls Winery (gorgeous grounds surrounded by a Christmas tree farm) and Grandfather Winery nestled in between the mountain side and the Watuga River. At both mountain resorts you’ll find some restaurants and Beech Mountain even has the 5506 Skybar named for the elevation - and the only way to it is by taking the ski lift! Banner Elk Cafe is a good spot with a variety of options and we were able to sit outside on their covered patio with Ellie. We had some good Mexican at Puerto Nuevo and good seafood at the Painted Fish Cafe & Beer Bar.