1 Best Shopping in Banner Elk, The North Carolina Mountains

For hardware, firewood, a quart of milk, locally grown vegetables, deli sandwiches, pumpkins for Halloween, snowboard and ski rentals, gourmet birdseed, and just about anything else you need, Fred's General Mercantile, half general store and half boutique, is the place to go. At 5,049 feet, it's billed as the highest-elevation general store in America.