snowrooster

I've done some research (trip advisor, official visitor guide) but am still unsure how we should spend our time in Ashville. We have 3 days and will definitely visit the Biltmore on one of them. What would you recommend for the other two days? We are going in early November and this is our once a year mini-vacation w/o our kids. Would love to do something outdoors (hiking?). Thanks!

doug_stallings

Asheville is the gateway to one of the country's most popular national parks, Great Smoky Mountains. I'm curious about how you could possibly have chosen Asheville as a destination and not known about this. Asheville is renowned for nearby hiking. It's kind of what it's most famous for, other than the Biltmore estate.

debCT

I'd hop on the Blue Ridge Parkway and go exploring...check for closures before you decide whether to go north or south; also check out the Folk Art Center/visitor's center (m. 382).

snowrooster

We chose Asheville b/c it is one of the few desitinations within driving distance of our house that we have not visited. I thought it was a good hiking destination, but none of the travel info I have researched even mention this. The official visitors guide suggest a waterfall hike, but it isn't even in Asheville - you have to drive to another town. No info on hiking as a top activity on trip advisor either. I'd like to find info on a good hike, but I haven't had any luck. Maybe I need to research the park itself rather than Asheville, but I know the park is quite large.

debCT

Try this link:

http://exploreasheville.com/what-to-...ils/index.aspx

SAnParis2

www.blueridgeparkway.org, www.nps.gov/blri, www.visitnc.com, www.ashvillenow.com. These should help.

xrae

The GSMNP is a couple hours from Asheville but has a lot of things to do. My husband and I prefer the National Forests in the area for driving and sightseeing, they are much less crowded and closer to Asheville. http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/ But some of the highest peaks are in the GSMNP, and there is Mount Mitchell (highest in the East) and the Black Mountains along the Blue Ridge Parkway (note there are Parkway closures between Asheville and Mount Mitchell). The GSMNP and Mount Mitchell are in opposite directions from Asheville. Just keep in mind that the weather at the top of the mountains in the Park and along the Parkway can be awful even if it's nice in Asheville. Winter months can bring weather-related road closures at the higher elevations.

The Appalachian Trail runs through the area, and there are plenty of other places to hike without having to go too far. http://www.hikewnc.info/

There are waterfalls-a-plenty within an hour from Asheville. Check out the Pisgah National Forest near Brevard on US 276 for hiking and waterfalls (too cold in November for the swimming holes!). Brevard is in Transylvania County, which has more waterfalls than any other county in the state. http://www.ncwaterfalls.com/

You could spend most of a day strolling around downtown Asheville shopping and eating. There are some beautiful Art Deco buildings. Biltmore Village near the Estate also has shops and restaurants. I like the Fine Arts Theater on Biltmore Ave. for independent films. http://www.fineartstheatre.com/

I like the Beaver Lake area just north of downtown on Merrimon Ave. -- there are easy trails in the bird sanctuary there, and you can walk around the lake or rent a canoe (but maybe not in November?).

There's also Chimney Rock Park and Lake Lure, 30-45 minutes outside of town.

If you like driving, check out the Scenic Byways at http://www.ncdot.org/doh/Operations/...adside/scenic/

If you like ribs and/or BBQ, try 12 Bones Smokehouse in the River Arts Dist. of Asheville for lunch one day (not open for dinner). I love 12 Bones. http://www.12bones.com/

xrae

And depending on when in November you'll be visiting, you may be able to visit the Grove Park Inn's National Gingerbread Competition. It starts November 19. My husband and I went last year and had a very nice lunch at the Sunset Terrace dining room before browsing the displays. In any case, the GPI is a great "adult" place to hang out for a while.
http://www.groveparkinn.com/Leisure/...on__Display_8/

snowrooster

So is Editor Doug incorrect that Great Smoky Mountains National Park is in Asheville but actually a couple of hours away? I thought it was kind of snotty for him to post "how could have picked Asheville and not known about this." We are driving 7 hours to get to Asheville so I don't really want to have to drive another couple of hours to hike!

Thanks to everyone else for the links - I will check them out!!

Samsaf

A few weeks ago we spent the weekend in the Asheville area.

We drove to Grandfather Mountain (about an hour, hour and a half north, northeast of Asheville). There is some great hiking there. I think you can google "Grandfather Mountain" to find it.

We also went to Chimney Rock Park and hiked there.

Both areas are beautiful, but my husband and I both preferred Grandfather Mountain.

doug_stallings

There is no national park IN Asheville, NC. However, Asheville is considered the major NC gateway to the park, the entrance of which is 51 miles west of town.

The Blue Ridge Parkway (the beautiful, scenic road to the park) begins 2 miles from town.

I'm going to bow out of this discussion now because I don't have anything further to add. But if I were within 50 miles of an absolutely beautiful national park, to me that would be worth at least a day of my time. You must decide for yourself if that's too far to go.

Brian_in_Charlotte

A good website for hikes in/near Asheville:

http://www.romanticasheville.com/hiking.html

SAnParis2

I'm guessing you are coming down 75 ? If so, you will skirt the Eastern half of the Park on 40. Other near-by places to visit would include Black Mt., & the BRP as I mentioned before. It is not far. I'd also put your travel time @ closer to 5 1/2 - 6 hours if you are coming from Cincy (barring any traffic issues).

xrae

If coming down 75, you could detour through Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg and the park en route to Asheville. You could stay in Gburg one evening and venture over US 441 to Cherokee NC the next day, and then take the Blue Ridge Parkway to Asheville. If you wanted to meander. Traffic through Gatlinburg and the Park shouldn't be too bad in November, depending on Gatlinburg's convention schedule.

soccr

Doug, I hope you're taking note of this discussion because it's bothered me for a while that Asheville is not considered its own destination by Fodors. It used to be listed as part of the Blue Ridge NC listings, and now it doesn't appear at all in your NC destinations/hotels/restaurant listings, that I can find. It's listed under VIRGINIA/Blue Ridge!!! Wow!

Comment and question: 1. Asheville NC is its own destination -- we go there for the food, the arts and crafts, the history and architecture, as well as its scenery and proximity to the mountains. It deserves a separate listing.

2. Are you reducing online listings to encourage people to purchase the paper/ink books?

palmettoprincess

"I'm curious about how you could possibly have chosen Asheville as a destination and not known about this?"

Hmmm... Maybe she was thinking about Bilmore being a destination in itself. Maybe she wanted to be spoiled by the Grove Park spa. She could be hoping to do early Christmas shopping. When I think of Asheville I don't think of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Snowroster: Can you help us by telling us your interests? Art, gardening, shopping, etc....

P.S.

Gretchen

I guess since the OP has made such a big deal about "7 hours from our home", and not wanting to drive another 51 miles, we could benefit from knowing where they are coming from' If SanParis is correct, it is around Cincinnati. Otherwise it might be I81/I77/etc. and they are coming from PA.
Asheville IS indeed a wonderful destination in and of itself. It is not a little mountain town where there would be hiking--like Gatlinburg USED to be!
It is close to GSMNP, and if coming from Cincy area, then drive through the Park from I40 outside Knoxville (exit 407)from PIgeon Forge to Cherokee/Dillsboro, and then up to Asheville.
There are MANY hiking trips available off the Blue Ridge Parkway. Just north of Asheville is Boone State Park and many hikes. There is also a wonderful Appalachian craft shop there. There is also Craggy Gardens where there is a hike to a waterfall.
Going south on the Parkway for a day they could go to Mt. Pisgah, but that time of year it may be in the clouds. closer to Asheville in the Pisgah Forest hike to Looking Glass Rock.
I suggest that the OP google for the Blue Ridge Parkway site and take a look there for hikes, views, etc.

maj

We drove to Grandfather Mountain area (which might be an option to spend a first night there) and toured the Blue Ridge Parkway from there to Ashville. Linn Cove Viaduct is a neat thing to see and you can take a walk under it near the Visitor Center there. Linville Falls is great -- there are a couple of different hikes to see the falls and another that takes you to the river below. Well worth seeing. There is also a hike to a terrific viewpoint where they have built a wooden deck. It was fairly new when we went but if it is not listed anywhere, the people at the Visitor Center knew about it. Wouldn't miss that either. Along with all the stops on the parkway.

Even if you don't want to go that far north -- I would definitely look at info on the Blue Ridge Parkway in both directions. We did the hike at Graveyard to both falls on another trip when we travelled it from Cherokee to Ashville. This is just off the top of my head -- don't have time right now to look up our trip info.

I'm assuming that you've already been to GSMNP. There are plenty of things to keep you busy on the Blue Ridge Parkway and closer to Ashville for 3 days.

doug_stallings

I just wanted to respond to soccr. There are a lot of destinations in our guides in addition to Asheville that aren't listed on the site here (at present, I'd estimate about 40% to 50% of our content is listed on the site). In the future, this will actually increase, though that's not really my department. I'm an editor on the bookside and write only occasionally for the site. But I think the plan is to get more like 80% or 90% of our content up and available to users. But there are bound to be bumps in the road, and since the Blue Ridge Parkways straddles Virginia and North Carolina, it's not easy to present that in a clear way here.

Dayle

snowrooster,

Thanks to all for this post and discussion. I've just confirmed a home exchange where I'll be visiting Boone, NC next fall. This helped me realize there's plenty to see and do in the area.