Early October is when we start to see colorful “pops” peeking through all the green in Pisgah National Forest and the area around Asheville, NC. Ready to find out where to hunt for bright fall foliage? It’s time for our second week of fall color reports for the NC mountains near Asheville and Black Mountain!
Here we are – the 2016 fall season has arrived to the North Carolina mountains! We’re one week into fall and, somewhat similar to last year, we have actual fall color to report even though it’s very early in the season and still mostly green.
We’ve got a secret hidden gem of a place to share with you: the nature trail at the Old Fort Picnic Area. If you’re reading this, shhh. Don’t tell anyone. Just kidding. But not about the nature trail and the picnic grounds being a gem.
Each month this summer, we’re featuring one of the four North Carolina State Parks closest to the Inn on Mill Creek, and August is reserved for a guest favorite: Grandfather Mountain. Let’s learn a little bit about this special place.
During the summer months, we’re profiling the four state parks near Asheville, NC, as part of Inn on Mill Creek’s nod to the 100th birthday of the North Carolina State Park System in 2016. Our July feature is Chimney Rock State Park and its iconic 315-foot granite namesake. Currently, the way to get to the top of Chimney Rock is a set of 499 steps. So…up, up, up, we go. Let’s do this.
The year 2016 is the 100th anniversary of the North Carolina State Park System and NC State Parks are celebrating in a big way with events throughout the year. There are nine state parks in the mountains of western North Carolina, and we’re fortunate to have four nearby, which we’ll profile for the next four months. This month, we take a look at Mount Mitchell State Park.
If you’re looking for a super-scenic day trip hike while staying with us here at Inn on Mill Creek near Asheville, NC, consider a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway to Graveyard Fields. Is it a graveyard? Nope. Is it a field? You could say that… but it’s so much more. Let’s explore.
The greenway closest to the Inn on Mill Creek, Point Lookout Trail, is getting some much-needed repairs soon! This means that the trail will be closed during the summer of 2016, but the work being done will provide long-term benefits, which is great news because this is a favorite trail for our guests.
Craggy Gardens is a section of the North Carolina mountains accessible via the Blue Ridge Parkway, north of Asheville. It has excellent hiking trails, a picnic area, cool mountaintop balds with wild blueberry bushes and dramatic mountain vistas. Read on to see what we saw on our hike of the Craggy Gardens Trail in early May! Hint: Wildflowers galore and other cool stuff that makes us love love love nature.
Looking to get outdoors during your springtime visit to the Asheville area? A waterfall hike can be a great experience for many reasons: a chance to see spring wildflowers and other vibrant spring green everywhere, fewer crowds on the trails than in the summer and fall, and also the snow melt from higher elevations and the occasional spring rain shower make for more water…falling. One waterfall we like happens to be the closest one to the Inn on Mill Creek: Catawba Falls.
