Asheville North Carolina

Our Blue Ridge Mountains journey brought us to one of the most well-known stops along the way, Asheville North Carolina. As a city, Asheville is a little hard to understand. It’s not a big city but it’s certainly not a small city. It’s a college town and frankly, can be a little weird (subjective). It has a huge arts and music scene to compliment the natural beauty it lies within and is surrounded by. With a mix of mountains, arts, food, and outdoor adventure, it’s no telling why Asheville is such a popular destination.

In September of 2024 Asheville and a good portion of western North Carolina experienced what is being considered a 1-in 1,000-year event. A weather system dumped heavy rain across the region adding to the already saturated ground that had received up to 14 inches of rain for the month. But this was just the precursor. Hurricane Helene then made landfall in Florida and rapidly traveled inland but retained enormous moisture as it weakened into a tropical storm but still packed winds up to 100 mph. When the moisture interacted with the mountains it dumped up to 30 inches of additional rain across the region causing devastating flooding. The rain finally stopped but the rivers continued to rise and things got even worse. No one saw this coming to the extent that it occurred. The region has recovered slowly over the past 20 months, but Asheville is now back open for business.

We found a great little RV park outside of Asheville called Campfire Lodgings, located high up on a hill overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains with the French Broad River meandering below. It seemed so peaceful, in contrast with what the area had recently encountered. Every night was an amazing sunset to share with our friendly neighbors and resident black bears. There’s a crazy gravel road you have to manage the RV through to get there, but it’s well worth it.

Our two weeks in Asheville was spent partly engaging in the cultural and entertainment aspects of the area and partly exploring the natural beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains region. There’s so much to cover here but I’ll “try” to keep it as brief as I can.

Our Best of Asheville

Let’s start with the art scene and there’s no better spot in Asheville for local art than the River Arts District. Being a young college town, we expected something very different, but surprisingly this area is lined with small art studios displaying creative art collections from mostly mature local artists. From the outside these studios don’t look very impressive, but walk through the doors and it’s a whole new experience. We found the creativity of these artists to be quite incredible in how they take disparate elements and bring them together as art. One artist in particular who stood out to us with her work is Jamie Byrd. Jamie is not only a great artist with her abstract landscape paintings, but she brings her Emmy nominated film editing skills to the table with a technology that literally brings her paintings to life, generating the “sensation” produced by the landscape.

The art scene expands beyond the arts district to downtown as well with galleries such as the Blue Spiral and Woolworth Walk, which is located in a 1938 Woolworths department store building. Not only can you enjoy all the art from approximately 175 local artists, but you can also enjoy a sweet treat at the old time Woolworths soda fountain.

The downtown district has a lot to offer with bars, restaurants and shops. There always seems to be some sort of activity going on in this vibrant city. A must visit spot is the Grove Arcade, a historical building built in 1929 with amazing architecture. The building has served many purposes over the years, including a military center during World War II. Today you can shop at many of the high-end stores while marveling at the amazing architecture which surrounds you.

Shannon always enjoys a Saturday morning local farmers market and Asheville City Market was a great find to fill up on all those fresh vegetables. It’s not a huge market but the selection of farm fresh products was very impressive along with wellness products and fresh baked goodies (the reason I enjoy these markets).

The North Carolina Arboretum is a 434-acre garden along with miles of trails located right off the Blue Ridge Parkway which is another must visit location in Asheville. The beautiful ever-changing garden is meticulously maintained and was a very pleasant visit on a mild day. We particularly enjoyed the bonsai garden, a nationally known collection of up to 40 of these miniature trees – not just Asian species, but bonsai versions of trees such as redwoods, maples and bald cypress. Who knew! The only miss there was that the popular quilt garden, which acts as the centerpiece of the arboretum, was undergoing their annual spring replanting.

Another smaller garden well worth a visit is the Asheville Botanical Gardens, an independent non-profit botanical garden located on 10 acres in a more natural setting with native plants. It was an extremely peaceful walk through the garden and along a small stream. A large tree, which came down during Hurricane Helene has been turned into a natural regenerative garden, which was interesting to see how nature always has a plan.

With all of these art exhibits and gardens you may be thirsty, but no fear, Asheville delivers on that quite well. The wine and craft beer scene in Asheville is very impressive. South of Asheville in Henderson County, along the Eastern Continental Divide, is a perfect environment for growing grapes. The rolling hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains provide the perfect mix of altitude, soil, temperature and a constant breeze. There are many wineries within the Hendersonville’s Crest of the Blue Ridge Wine Trail that can keep a wine enthusiast busy for “daze”. We enjoyed Point Lookout Vineyards, but not sure what was better, their wines or the amazing view from the back patio!

Did you know that Asheville, nicknamed “Beer City USA”, is one of the top craft beer destinations in the country? Asheville has more breweries per capita than any U.S. city with breweries big and small including major names like New Belgium and Sierra Nevada. Many of the breweries can be found in the South Slope Brewery District, where you can literally walk (or stumble) from one brewery to the next. I feel we underachieved in our brewery tour objectives but did enjoy a few brews at Salt Face Mule Brewing, which was very close to our campground.

You can’t drink all day (unless you start early) so at some point we all need to seek out some dining options, and Asheville has plenty! There’s too many to mention so I’ll highlight three of our favorites.

• Huli Sue’s BBQ and Grill breaks our rule of not indulging in barbeque outside of Texas but when we found this place highlighted on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, we couldn’t resist. A mix of traditional barbeque and Hawaiian may sound a little weird but once that Huli Chicken or BBQ ribs hits your palate, you’ll get it!
• Vinnie’s is an old school neighborhood italian restaurant that you’d expect to see in New York or Chicago. It’s friendly staff and great food will have you coming back for more. They now have two locations, the original and South location.
• Nine Mile is a trendy place with three locations including the Montford location which sits right adjacent to a cozy neighborhood. The Caribbean inspired menu delivers an explosion of flavors specializing in seafood and vegetarian options.

Likely the number one attraction that most people visit Asheville for is to tour “America’s Largest Home”, the Biltmore. This home like no other was the private residence of George Vanderbilt, from 1895 to 1914, and is still privately owned and operated by the fourth and fifth generations of the Vanderbilt family. The 175,000 square foot French Renaissance-style chateau house, sporting 250 rooms, was designed by the famous architect, Richard Hunt. The grounds, including acres of natural forest and formal gardens, were designed by Frederick Olmsted, known as the father of American landscape architecture. The home took nearly eight years to build and was a construction and technology marvel for its time, complete with electricity and plumbing for 43 bathrooms.

With years of financial challenges after George’s untimely death at the age of 51, the family decided to open the house to the public in 1930 to promote tourism during the Great Depression. Today, 1.4 million visitors come to the Biltmore annually to experience George’s vision of a country estate in the Blue Ridge Mountains, intended more as a retreat that is one with nature rather than a show of status (which it did as well). The admission includes access to the gardens and an extensive self-guided, audio enabled, tour of the house and access to restaurants, shops and a winery on the property. It’s fairly expensive but think of it as a full day adventure rather than simply a tour of a historic home.

The Vanderbilt influence is extensive in the Asheville area with George and the family being instrumental in the local economy and forest conservation efforts. Groveland Village is a great example of this, as it was the home of Biltmore Industries, founded by Edith Vanderbilt, George’s wife, in the early 1900s. This was an investment in local economic development meant to teach skills and provide jobs, which included a full weaving and woodworking complex. Today it is a great place to visit for the art gallery, to see the original handlooms, and to visit the loom factory which is now an antique car museum.

Estes-Winn Antique Car Museum now resides in the old Biltmore Industries weaving shop. The museum was founded in 1966 by Harry D. Blomberg, a local car dealer for 50 years, and showcases his distinguished collection of antique and vintage vehicles. Most of the vehicles are in original unrestored, but immaculate, condition. There’s everything from a 1913 Model T, a 1922 fire truck and the crown jewel of the museum, a rare 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham. It’s quite a collection of automobiles!

Exploring Beyond Asheville

The 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway passes directly through Asheville, making this a great stop while traveling the parkway and significantly expands the outdoor activities while visiting Asheville. There were still sections of the parkway that were closed due to Hurricane Helene which ravaged the area 20 months prior in September of 2024. The parkway was completely open to the south but closed after Mt. Mitchell heading north so this hampered our exploring some. What we could explore was magnificent, especially through the Craggy Gardens region. The winding road, traveling along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains, is a beautiful drive anywhere along the 469 miles of national park land. Take it slow, stop at as many of the overlooks as possible and marvel at the many historical tunnels along the way.

Because the parkway is a national park there’s not many places to stop directly on the parkway, other than the overlooks and hiking trails, so you should plan carefully. Fortunately, there are maps and apps that provide detailed on and off spots with local conveniences and attractions listed by milepost. However, there are two places on the parkway that you should particularly consider stopping at. The Asheville Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center is a great place to learn more about the parkway and get some tips from a ranger. The Southern Highlands Craft Guild and Folk Art Center are another great stop to explore local art and crafts and even see live demonstrations from local artists. We were very surprised at the collections and quality of everything from furniture pieces to ceramics and wood carvings. We even watched a flameworking demonstration where glass artifacts are crafted using an open propane torch.

We were thrilled that the parkway had opened up to Mount Mitchell several weeks before our arrival since this was a key area we wanted to see. Mount Mitchell, located in Mount Mitchell State Park, is the highest point in the Eastern U.S. at 6,684 feet. It is also very accessible via a paved road that gets you a 1/4 mile from the peak. From there, a paved foot path leads you to an observation deck with a magnificent 360-degree view. The Old Mitchell Trail was closed for renovation, but we did do some light hiking along the Balsam Nature Trail on the way back.

As mentioned previously, the Craggy Gardens area of the parkway is quite beautiful with the vertical rock ledges along the road, some with water weeping through them. A great hike in this area is the Craggy Pinnacle Trail which takes you to a couple different amazing viewpoints. The trail is pretty short and relatively easy so it’s a big payoff for the minimal effort.

Speaking of great hikes, south of Mount Mitchell near I40 is Catawba Falls. This is a beautiful trail that travels along a river with many cascades and scenic spots along the way. Then… the stairs begin! There is a lot of them, but mostly wood steps in very good shape, except for the observation tower which is a metal grate structure. The payoff is a serene waterfall that you can get right up close to. It’s a beautiful and peaceful spot to hang out at but this trail can get very busy so start your trek early. There’s a choice to take the ridge trail back or backtrack on the river trail.

Southwest of Asheville is Chimney Rock State Park, originally a privately owned attraction until the state purchased it in 2007. The park boasts the iconic Chimney Rock, a 315-foot monolith offering stunning views of nearby Lake Lure and the Hickory Nut Gorge. You can reach the top by climbing the 500 steps or take the elevator. Yes, an elevator shaft was cut into the mountain as part of the original attraction back in 1949. The views up top are incredible! We decided to take the elevator up and the stairs down, which offered some other viewing opportunities and some crevices to meander through which was fun. There are other trails to explore even further, including the trail to Hickory Nut Falls.

The area from Bat Cave to Lake Lure, including Chimney Rock is located right along the Broad River and was one of the hardest hit areas from the Hurricane Helene floods. Twenty months later, the devastation was still very evident. The few structures that remain along the river where barely standing. Houses stood on the far side of the river with no way to reach them because the bridges do not exist anymore. The once quite forested river has been totally transformed by mother nature’s fury into an open rocky landscape. Lake Lure was drained to remove debris and just reopened a couple days before we were there. It’s hard to imagine what they pulled out of that lake! The destruction is hard to comprehend but the progress is promising.

Little Switzerland is a classic little Blue Ridge Parkway town founded in 1910, however, it was a little tricky getting to it with the parkway closures since it’s quite a bit further north, but luckily alternate routes made it accessible. One of the classic places to visit is the Little Switzerland Book and Bean, a unique used bookstore cafe and gift shop. Right next door is the Switzerland Cafe, a perfect lunch stop. And finally, the Switzerland Inn, originally built in the early 1900’s as a Swiss Alps inspired lodge for wealthy travelers and later rebuilt in the 1960’s, is an amazing place. Even if you’re not staying there or eating at the restaurant, take a walk to the back of the property and have a seat in one of the adirondack chairs and enjoy the view!

We often add activities to our travel plan based on local recommendations. We received multiple recommendations, including one from a park ranger, to visit Dupont State Recreational Forest about an hour south of Asheville. The main attraction there is trail that includes High Falls and Triple Falls, which we really enjoyed. If you do the entire loop trail as described in AllTrails you get to see all of the scenic spots including a covered bridge, the top and bottom of High Falls and amazing viewpoints of Triple Falls, with its three cascading tiers plummeting 120 feet. High Falls provides the opportunity to scramble on the rocks and get right underneath this powerful waterfall, which is always a cool experience. This was a great recommendation that we’re glad we pursued.

As with many places we visit, we began to enjoy Asheville more as we got to know it better. It provided us a well-rounded experience with everything the city has to offer combined with the natural aspects of the surrounding area. And that view at the campground will never get old!

Check out our pictures and see you down the “parkway” of piece.