i posted about 2 months ago asking about family-friendly fall foliage ideas. unfortunately, we ended up deciding not to go, since the weather forecasts were not looking great (ie 70% chance of rain) and we'd only have 2 or 3 days to spend.

so now we have a great list of fun things to do, and we're still interested in visiting. the next big break we have from school is the first week of april. we've been to raleigh in mid-april, and the weather was great, and there were lots of spring blooms. it was really nice.

what can we expect for early april in asheville? will it still be cold and barren? we'd like to do some short hikes, drive a bit of the blue ridge parkway, explore downtown asheville, and do the chimney rock and lake lure area, possibly taking the kids horseback riding.

again, i'm not really looking for any specific things to do, but wondering if it will be possible to do these outdoor things in april comfortably (or if we should just plan for next fall instead).

thanks in advance.

It should be just fine for what you want to do.

will it be scenic with flowers in bloom, or still relatively barren?

I think the Biltmore House's flowers, that they are so famous for, should be in bloom by then. April should be a pretty nice time to go.

We should be beginning to see some blooming by then, esp of bulbs - but it depends when exactly you are there and how the weather has been. It is not uncommon to have freak snow storms that time of year though.