8/19/2023 0 Comments Places to stay near banner elk ncGrandfather Vineyard & Winery is located on a mountainside at the base of Grandfather Mountain on the Watauga River.They also offer private tours and tastings with advance scheduling of at least one week. Stop in for a tasting year around from 12 Noon until 6 PM every day but Mondays. Banner Elk wines pay tribute to the rugged mountain landscape and capture the delicate nuance and subtle flavors. Banner Elk Winery (photo above) is the most celebrated winery in the region, growing new French-American and American varieties of grapes.Take daily guided tours mid-June through mid-October by volunteers. Read more.īanner House Museum: Experience 19th-century life in the North Carolina mountains at the home of Samuel Henry Banner, one of Banner Elk's original settlers. Enjoy a big selection of arts and crafts, food and live music. A contest determines which one worm will have the honor of predicting the severity of the coming winter. Woolly Worm Festival: Banner Elk's biggest event of the year celebrates the coming of the snow season with a Woolly Worm Festival on the third weekend of October. While the town is only home to about 1,000 residents, it's a hub for the area and offers a nice selection of shopping and an impressive line-up of great restaurants within a few blocks of the town clock tower. Many other things to do nearby. 10 AM-5 PM. Find a big variety of artists working with metal, glass, pottery, wood, jewelry, and more. Nearby is Grandfather Mountain and the popular Mile High Swinging Bridge.īuy art and support the restoration of the historic school in Banner Elk. It's home to Lees-McRae College, a beautiful historic campus at the highest elevation of any college east of the Mississippi (3,700 ft.). The 13-acre lake is walkable from downtown Banner Elk and offers picnic tables, perfect for days when you want to hang by the water without having to take a break for lunch.Banner Elk is a quaint mountain village between the Beech Mountain and Sugar Mountain ski areas (our top North Carolina Ski Town). You can easily spend summer days at Wildcat Lake fishing for trout, kayaking and paddleboarding, or hopping into the blue water from the wooden dock. This beloved mountain swimming hole is covered in white sandy beaches hugged by Fraser fir. The experience is also largely wheelchair accessible. The caverns are a cool 52 degrees Fahrenheit year-round and can be quite dark upon entry, but warm guiding lights ensure a cozy visit. You can view the natural limestone deposits that form the walls, and spot trout in an underground stream as well as sometimes hibernating bats here. Linville Caverns allow visitors the unique opportunity to explore the inside of a mountain. For a break from the outdoors, visit the Grandfather Mountain Nature Museum, home to more than a dozen exhibitions about the local flora and fauna, local emeralds and rubies, and what is said to be the largest amethyst discovered in North America on display. There are designated areas in the park where you may even spot cougars, black bears, bald eagles, and river otters. Throughout the park, pristine rivers and lakes allow you to kayak, canoe, or fish. This state park covers almost 2,500 mountainous acres, providing hiking opportunities for all experience levels. Despite what the worm predicts, you can count on winters bringing snowfall and chilly winds. Crowds gather on the third weekend of October to watch races between woolly worms, a type of fuzzy caterpillar, with the winning wriggler earning the honor of forecasting the severity of the coming winter. As the weather starts to cool in the fall, the town celebrates its biggest festival of the year - the Woolly Worm Festival. It’s during this time that the local parks are most lively, with visitors enjoying canoeing on the water or rock climbing along one of the many hiking trails around the mountainous area.ĭespite being a small town, Banner Elk hosts a wide range of all-ages events each year, such as the Golden Easter Egg Hunt, when you can hunt for golden eggs hidden at Tate-Evans Town Park the Saturday before Easter, or the Trunk or Treat event in October for trick-or-treating out of car trunks. At 3,701 feet above sea level, Banner Elk has mild weather during the spring and summer months, making it a popular destination for spring break and summer holidays, as other areas in the South can get quite hot.
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