Lake Lure is a man-made lake located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Its beautiful scenery is well-known in Hollywood and dozens of movies have been filmed here, including scenes from The Last of the Mohicans, Forrest Gump, and Dirty Dancing. There is tons to do in the area, from swimming in the lake to hiking to the top of Chimney Rock. It’s a great getaway weekend from Charlotte.
This was our second trip to Lake Lure and both times we have rented a house with a group of friends in Rumbling Bald Resort. The 3,000 acre property has it all – a beach, golf courses, mini-golf, swimming pool, hiking trails, and more. The surrounding mountains form a beautiful backdrop for the lake.
Ideally located about 25 miles from Asheville, there is plenty to do in the surrounding area or you can choose to spend all of your time on the resort property. Having explored the area outside of Rumbling Bald on our last visit, we opted to stay on the resort property this trip and definitely had plenty to keep us busy.
The resort has a single pool area with two separate pools and a lazy river. One of the pools is a traditional rectangular pool with lap lanes available for fitness swimming and a removable volleyball net. The other pool, known as the Trout Stream Pool, is ideal for kids. A zero-entry swimming pool, it allows small kids to sit and splash in the water or cool down under the mushroom waterfalls. The lazy river isn’t especially long but still entertained the boys for hours. You cannot be in the lazy river without an inner tube – you can bring your own from home or purchase one from the concession stand.
In the summer, the pool is open from 9am to 9pm. Both times we have visited have been over Labor Day weekend. The first time, the pool was extremely crowded and we had trouble finding seats. This time it was not an issue at all. The resort also has two more pools – an indoor pool in the Wellness Center and the Apple Valley Pool, which is an outdoor pool a little further away in the resort that offers a quieter experience.
When you’ve had your fill of the pool, the lake is just steps away. The kids played in the sand on the beach, swam in the lake, and used their inner tubes to laze around in the water. With the lake spread before you and the mountains in the background, the beach at Rumbling Bald is a great place to relax and just soak in the scenery while the kids play.
For those looking for more action, there are lots of lake activities available. From kayaks to SUP boards, you can explore the lake in a variety of ways. My husband and our youngest tried the stand-up paddle boarding and had a great time.
And for those looking for still more action, the Wellness Center offers fitness classes, tennis and pickle ball courts, basketball courts, and a mini-golf course. And there are two 18 hole golf courses on the property – the Bald Mountain and Apple Valley courses.
And don’t miss the opportunity to explore the beautiful surroundings. There are 6 trails offering a total of about 5 miles of hiking within the resort. In addition, resort guests have easy access to the 3.5 mile loop trail in Buffalo Creek Park. The trail system has a public trailhead in the town of Lake Lure and a private trailhead in Rumbling Bald Resort. The trail allows both mountain bikers and hikers. For everyone’s safety, a sign at the start of the loop trail sends bikers out in one direction and hikers out in the other.
The trail we hiked was wide, well maintained, and relatively smooth, although some sections had a moderate amount of rocks and tree roots in the path. The hike had some significant uphill portions and would be difficult for toddlers and young preschoolers so be prepared to put your young ones on your shoulders or back if you go out with them. The kids enjoyed exploring and spotting different bugs and critters out on the trail.
When you get towards the top of the trail, there are some incredible views of the surrounding mountains in one direction and the lake below in the other. We were there over Labor Day weekend so it was too early for the leaves to be changing, but I can only imagine what a stunning view this is in mid-October.
While we saw some interesting lizards and bugs on our hike, the real excitement came back at our cabin. One of the neighbors who is a resident had casually asked if they had “told us about the bears” when we checked in. Excuse me? No, they had not mentioned anything of the sort. He said that they have bears in the area and told us to make sure we didn’t leave any food outside. If we at all doubted him, one look at the trash cans and the long lines of claw marks on the lid assured us he was not kidding. Still, we thought they probably only came around after dark and didn’t really think about it again.
Late in the afternoon one day, we were relaxing in the living room of our cabin when one of our friends went to the car to get something. A minute later, he came running back with a look of fear on his face and fumbled at the door to get back in, yell/whispering “there’s a bear!”. Since we had been joking about it all weekend, we were sure he was pulling our leg but when we stepped back out on the deck, there he was.
The cabin was built on a slope so that the deck starts at ground level near the driveway and then quickly becomes elevated as the ground slopes downward. Our friend had just stepped on to the deck from the driveway when he heard a rustling in the woods next to him. He looked over expecting to see a squirrel or something, and there was a bear not more than 10 feet away. Thankfully the deck was slightly elevated at this point but still he was shockingly close. As the bear walked further down the hill, I snuck out on the deck to take a picture.
I made sure that my flash was off so it wouldn’t scare him, but just the beeping sound the camera made when I took the picture was enough to get his attention. He whipped his face around and hissed right at me. I had never heard a sound like that before in my life. I ran back inside and we all watched from the safety of the cabin as he walked down the hill towards the clearing.
Although he was momentarily perturbed at me for taking his photo, he immediately went back to his business of, well, being a bear. He meandered through the woods, stopping here and there to check something out. Then he slowly made his way through the clearing behind the house and just when we thought he was going to disappear from sight, he stopped, turned, and got up on his hind legs to eat from a tree branch. Even from a distance it was awe-inspiring to see him up on his hind legs. You could tell how massive he was. It was an unbelievable experience to get to witness him up close and in the wild.
After that, the kids left apples and other food in the clearing hoping he could come back for another visit but he never did. We were so fortunate to have been able to watch him like that safely from the deck.
So there you have it. Rumbling Bald Resort at Lake Lure has everything you could want in a mountain vacation – a lake with tons of available activities, gorgeous mountain views, a pool with a lazy river, hiking trails, and real live wild bears. We highly recommend it!
