Part state park and part non-profit tourist attraction, Grandfather Mountain is the highest peak on the eastern face of the Blue Ridge Mountain range. Its rocky summit has an elevation of 5,946 feet. On a clear day, you can see Charlotte 90 miles off in the distance.
Until 2008, Grandfather Mountain was privately owned and its tourist attractions were operated for profit. In 2008, the state purchased the undeveloped part of the mountain and turned it into a state park. Ownership of the developed portion was transferred to a newly created non-profit. Today, the back country trails are part of the state park system, while the tourist attractions continue to be privately run.
Tickets to the developed section of the park are $20 for adults and $9 for kids 4-12 (kids under 4 are free). Tickets can be purchased ahead of time through their website. This is highly recommended. When we went, the line to get into the park was backed up for miles. Employees came around to the waiting cars and those with pre-purchased tickets were shown to the “priority” entrance where they bypassed the long wait. We saved a ton of time by doing this. (Be sure to print out your tickets and bring them with you to further expedite your entry.)
Your ticket gives you access to the mile high swinging bridge, wildlife habitats, a nature museum, hiking trails, and much more. We spent about 4 hours there on a day with off-and-on rain. On a better weather day, we definitely could have spent longer.
The first stop on the way up the mountain is two gigantic rocks on the side of the road – Split Rock and Sphinx Rock. These were surprisingly entertaining for the kids. In fact, we probably spent the most time here and stopped both on the way up and down the mountain. The kids loved climbing all over the rocks and exploring small “caves” in the splits and crevices of the rocks.
We finally pulled the kids away from the rocks (with the promise to return later) and headed up to the nature museum and wildlife habitats. We got our first glimpse of the beautiful views on our way up. The mountains seemed to go on forever.
The wildlife habitats on Grandfather Mountain house cougars, black bears, bald eagles, river otters, and elk. There are hilly but paved trails between the different enclosures, making it accessible to strollers. The animals’ enclosures are large but have well-designed viewing areas. The bear seemed to be the most popular among the masses, but our personal favorite was the otters. The otter habitat has two levels of viewing – one to see them at the ground level and one to see them underwater.
The small nature museum features exhibits about the minerals, plants, birds and animals found on the mountain. Additionally, there is a theater that shows short educational movies about Grandfather Mountain on a rolling loop so you can stop in any time. We were also lucky enough to be there during a wildlife encounter and got to hold a corn snake and meet a rescued opossum.
My kids are wildlife lovers so we really enjoyed the habitats and nature museum. But the most popular attraction at Grandfather Mountain is the Mile High Swinging Bridge, which is the highest suspension footbridge in the United States. The bridge is 228 feet long, crosses an 80 foot gorge between peaks on the mountain, and is one mile (or 5,280 feet) above sea level.
It took us three attempts to get up to the bridge due to the weather. Lightning closed the bridge on and off throughout the day. The bridge has its own parking lot at the top (separate from the nature center and wildlife habitats) so you must either drive there or take a short (but steep) hike from a lower parking lot. The park controls access to the top parking lot – when it is full, they have a parking lot attendant who holds cars about midway up the road to the lot and only lets them continue once another car has left. While this created a backup on the road up, it was nice to know that when you got to the top there would be a space available.
Even the views from the parking lot were amazing. The low-lying clouds looked like snow in the distant mountains.
The bridge is called a “swinging” bridge for a reason. Not everyone in our group was willing to go on it and I couldn’t convince anyone to walk all the way across to the other side. My oldest and I went midway across and took in the views. I imagine the view must be stunning in the fall when the leaves are changing. In early September, there were green trees for miles.
Due to the weather, we didn’t end up doing any hiking but there are several hikes and walks you can do inside the park. It can be confusing because some trails are part of the free state park and some are only accessible with paid admissions to the attraction side of the mountain. But if you’ve paid admissions, you can use any of the trails on the mountain. Aside from hikes, there are several easy walks in the park. On our first visit to Grandfather Mountain, our kids were much younger and we found some great toddler-appropriate nature trails closer to the bottom of the mountain.
Some people balk at the idea of paying this much for entrance to a park. Most state parks have free entrance or a minimal per-vehicle charge. A visit to the Grandfather Mountain attractions will cost a family of 4 almost $60 (or up to $80 if your kids are over age 12). But the mountain features much more beyond what a typical state park offers, and as a non-profit, all money made from admissions is invested back into the park. We found there to be enough to do and the attractions to be of a high enough quality to justify the price. Even on a rainy day, we had a great experience.
