We recently had a chance to spend a couple of days hiking near the charming, little town of Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Blowing Rock is located on the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains, only about 8 miles from the more well-known town of Boone, North Carolina.
The town was originally named for a unique rock formation that overlooks the nearby John’s River gorge. Due to the air currents that flow over the rock formation, light objects are blown upward and appear to float. The Blowing Rock, frequently referred to as “North Carolina’s Oldest Attraction”, is located just south of town. There is a small entrance fee and although they are open most days, check their website for all the specifics.
Blowing Rock has a long history of attracting tourists that extends all the way to the 1880’s. Today, the small town is still a very popular destination. Almost any time of year, the streets of the small town will be bustling with visitors from all over the U.S., enjoying the shops, restaurants, galleries and museums.
Where to Stay and Where to Dine
There are many options for places to stay both in and around Blowing Rock. You will find all sorts of possibilities from mom-and-pop style hotels such as the Mountainaire Inn, to upscale accommodations like Chetola Resort. There is also an abundance of private rentals through VRBO and Airbnb.
We recommend starting your search for accommodations at the Blowing Rock Tourism Development Authority’s website.
Blowing Rock has many restaurants and truthfully, since we had our own fully equipped cabin, we only ate at a couple of them. We had a nice lunch at the Town Tavern and we stopped for ice cream twice at Kilwin’s. However, take a look at the Blowing Rock Tourism website for a complete list of everything the town has to offer.
Keep in mind that the nearby town of Boone is considerably larger than Blowing Rock. There you will find all sorts of chain hotels and restaurants, in addition to many private accommodations, restaurants and breweries.
Things to Do and See in Blowing Rock
• Museums and Historical Sites
– Blowing Rock Art and History Museum – Located at the south end of Blowing Rock on the corner of Main Street and Chestnut, this free museum is a great place to spend an hour or two taking in their rotating exhibits. In addition to the exhibits, there are frequent events for children as well as adults. Check out their website for up-to-date information on the museum’s hours and current exhibits.
– Edgewood Cottage – The Edgewood Cottage is located adjacent to the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum. The historic cottage is used by the museum to showcase local, high-country artists. Each year 30 artists are selected and provided a forum for displaying and selling their artwork. Since the selected artists change so often, it is a great place to visit whenever you are in town.
– Mystery Hill – Mystery Hill is located just north of Blowing Rock on U.S. 321. From the outside this place looks a bit gimmicky, but its actually pretty interesting and kids will love it. They have exhibits related to history and even have the largest private collection of Native American artifacts in the world. However, the big draw is their gravity-defying exhibits where you can experience balls that appear to roll uphill and where you can appear to stand at a severe angle without support. Of course, it is all in good fun and you can purchase various packages depending on how many of the exhibits you want to experience.
• Galleries, Shops and More – There is no shortage of shops and galleries in Blowing Rock. It seems like there were little shops in every nook and corner. Here are just a few of the ones we browsed during our visit.
– Art Walk – Artwalk offers all sorts of arts and crafts and is right in downtown Blowing Rock. They also have a website where you can browse products to get an idea of the types of things you can find there.
– Bolick and Traditions Pottery – This shop offers all sorts of decorative and functional pottery, incorporating both old and new designs. In addition, they also have some clothing, jewelry and other items suitable for gifting. Bolick and Traditions Pottery is located right on Main Street and you can checkout their website for their daily hours.
– Blowing Rock Antique Center – Blowing Rock Antique Center is located just north of downtown along U.S. 321. If you are interested in antique furniture, art or other accessories, stop by this shop. They have a large, ever-changing inventory and their current offerings are available to browse on Instagram.
– Grandfather Vineyard – There are a number of wineries around the Blowing Rock area, but the one to which we keep returning is Grandfather Vineyard. The wine is just fine, but the vineyard is so lovely, with many seating areas throughout a garden-like setting. Live music and food are available on the weekends and all week during other popular times of the year. Patrons can even bring their own food if they prefer. Open every day of the week, this spot is both family and dog friendly and there is plenty of room for the kids to play.
• Jan Karon Fans – Jan Karon is a well-known author who previously lived in Blowing Rock. According to many, Blowing Rock was the inspiration for the town known as Mitford in her book series by the same name. If you have read any of these books, you may recognize St. Mary of the Hills Episcopal Church at the south end of Main Street as Father Tim’s church in the book series. In addition, Flat Top Manor located at the Moses Cone Memorial, is thought to be Miss Sadie’s Fernbank home. The series also makes reference to other areas such as the town square and grocery store. So, if you are interested in the book series and its relationship to Blowing Rock, here is a link that you may find interesting.
Hiking Near Blowing Rock
There are a ton of hikes all around the Blowing Rock vicinity, and hiking was the main reason for this visit. We spent 3 days hiking in the area and wanted to share a few of our favorite trails.
• Moses Cone Memorial Park – The Moses Cone Memorial Park is located right off the Blue Ridge Parkway just west of Blowing Rock. Moses Cone was a textile magnate around the turn of the 20th century, and he and his wife built Flat Top Manor as a summer home. Unlike most estates, it was always open to the public and folks in the community were welcome to walk, ride and explore its 3600 acres. Today, the estate is in the hands of the National Park Service and everyone is again welcome to hike or ride horses throughout the grounds.
The large 14,000 square foot house is currently under renovation and will hopefully be completed during 2021. However, the grounds are completely open and there are 25 miles of trails throughout the property. You can find a trail map here.
We hiked the Deer Park Road roundtrip from the manor house to Bass Lake. This trail, like many on the property, is a former carriage road. So, walking on the road is relatively easy and no special footwear is needed. Bass Lake is gorgeous and you can choose to add another .8 miles to your 4-mile hike by taking the loop around the lake.
We also hiked the Flat Top Trail to the Flat Top Tower. The roundtrip hike is just over 5 miles and uses another carriage road that passes through forest and meadows before reaching the 40-foot tower at Flat Top Mountain. Along the way you will have views of several mountains, including Grandfather Mountain. This hike is a little long, but relatively easy and is suitable for families with younger children.
• Julian Price Memorial Park – Julian Price, born in 1867, was an insurance executive who accumulated 4200 acres of land adjacent to Moses Cone’s estate. After his death in 1946, his land was turned over to the National Park Service. Today, Julian Price Memorial Park, together with the Moses Cone estate, is the largest developed recreational area for public use on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Julian Price Park includes a large 100-site picnic area, a 200-site campground, a lake for canoeing, rivers for fishing and miles of hiking trails. Our primary reason to visit was for the hikes, all of which were spectacular!
– Price Lake Trail – Price Lake is a 47-acre lake, located just to the west of the entrance to the Julian Price picnic area on the Blue Ridge Parkway. A very easy hiking trail follows the shore of the lake for just under 3 miles. Along the way you will pass a boathouse where you can rent canoes and kayaks, offering a terrific way to see the lake, as well as the ducks and loons that make their home there.
Unfortunately, on our recent visit, the lake itself was closed due to a malfunction in the dam that caused the lake to drain, leaving some portions of the lake exposed, as you can see in the above picture. Nevertheless, the hike was still well worth doing.
– Boone Fork Trail – The Boone Fork Trail hike originates from the Julian Price Park picnic area. This trail makes a 5.5-mile loop that passes near rivers, streams, meadows, and forests. It is a moderately difficult hike, mostly due to the fact that there are a lot of roots and rocks, so you really have to watch your step! Be sure to wear appropriate hiking shoes and consider taking along a walking stick. All those roots and rocks are slippery and as I found out, its very easy to slip or trip!
We recommend following the trail in a counter clockwise direction. In this direction the trail first follows the Boone Fork River as it cascades down several waterfalls. The first 3 miles of the trail is very scenic and there are several spots where you can hike to huge, flat rocks that overhang the river. These rocks make excellent spots for a break or lunch, especially on a nice day.
After 3 miles or so, the trail turns away from the river and traverses a heavily forested area. The trail crosses many small creeks as it makes its way back up to a beautiful open meadow. From that point, the trail heads down through the campground and eventually back to the picnic area.
It took us 3 hours to complete this hike, longer than we expected. However, we stopped a lot, especially near the river, just to soak in all the wonderful scenery.
– Tanawha Trail – The Tanawha Trail is a 13.5 mile fairly difficult trail that also originates from Julian Price Park and continues westward, all the way to the Linn Cove Viaduct. It is a long hike. However, the good news is that since the trail parallels the Blue Ridge Parkway, it is easy to jump on or off the trail from several points along the Parkway.
We did not have time to do the entire hike, but we were particularly interested in seeing the views from Rough Ridge. So, we drove to the Rough Ridge overlook along the Parkway and then made the relatively short hike to the viewing area.
This portion of the hike is not long, but it is a bit steep and there are a fair number of stairs along the way. That said, the views of Grandfather Mountain and surrounding areas are stunning and we thought they offered the best views of all of the hikes we did on this trip.
If you are visiting Blowing Rock or Boone, take the time to explore the area and try some of these hikes. They offer some of the best scenery in the mountains of North Carolina and you will not be disappointed!
Until next time, safe travels!