Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina is an iconic and beautiful destination to explore. The mile high bridge, beautiful scenery, hiking trails and animals all make it a great day or even weekend trip. Funny story, we both grew up in NC and neither had any memory of visiting the swinging bridge (although Megan went when she was younger!). Honestly, that just seemed unacceptable to us. So, we set out to visit Grandfather Mountain this year as part of our 2020 travel goals. Our visit did not disappoint and we loved every minute of it! We think Grandfather Mountain should be on your must do list in NC!

Where is Grandfather Mountain?

There is a little bit of confusion about Grandfather Mountain…at least it was to us! Grandfather Mountain is a mountain, attraction and a state park. The State Park, which is run by the NC State park system is in a completely different location. The state park portion of Grandfather Mountain is free to visit. It includes several long hiking trails and it’s where you need to go to get your passport stamp. If you want to check out what to do at Grandfather Mountain state park visit our Boone Hiking Guide for details! For this post, we are focusing on the Grandfather Mountain attraction that includes an entrance fee and is located at 2050 Blowing Rock Hwy in Linville, NC. We think most people think of this location when they hear Grandfather Mountain- since it includes the iconic mile high swinging bridge!

Know Before You Go

Cost

First thing to note is the cost for admission! It is not cheap to visit. To visit Grandfather Mountain it cost $22 per adult, (60+) $20 and $9 per child (4-12). There is also a bridge membership you can join that is $70 per adult, $30 per child or $215 for groups up to 5. Membership will give you free admission during a one year period. Grandfather Mountain is a non-profit organization and all ticket sales go towards protecting and preserving this beautiful landmark. They do a wonderful job in keeping it clean, maintained and protected! For us, it was worth a trip…not something we would visit over and over but worth it to visit at least once.

Reservations

Second thing to know is that you must purchase and reserve a spot online. You cannot show up and buy tickets at the gate! We purchased tickets the morning of and had no issues in the spring…during busier times that might be a little more difficult. So plan ahead! We would not suggest just showing up during a summer peak season day without already reserving a ticket spot.

Food

Next, let’s talk food. There is one cafe type restaurant located onsite and a little shop that sells snacks. The restaurant is small and tends to get crowded fast. You are allowed to bring picnics and there are tons of spots to stop and enjoy a meal on the Mountain. Definitely take advantage of that!

Weather

Finally, the weather is always important when visiting the NC Mountains. Grandfather Mountain is the highest peak on the eastern portion of the Blueridge Mountains. Because of this, the weather can be iffy. You have fog, wind, temps going up and down and rain that can surprise you. Just be sure to be prepared and check the weather before heading there! We went on a spring day and it was extremely windy on the swinging bridge, pretty chilly and scattered showers. It felt like we experienced several seasons in one day.

What to do at Grandfather Mountain

Mile High Swinging Bridge

This is probably the most iconic portion of the park! The bridge is a mile above sea level and America’s highest suspension footbridge. It gives you amazing views everywhere you turn. There is an elevator making it accessible for all and a gift shop at the top. It can get extremely crowded in normal times so make sure to plan for that. We went during a pandemic and practically had the place to ourselves. In our minds we thought the bridge would be a lot scarier to cross than it was. We felt really safe and had zero issues…and we even have a person who doesn’t enjoy heights. I witnessed a group who had people refuse to go up and that made me sad. At least make it to the bridge crossing before you decide!

Once you cross over the bridge you can spend some time walking and climbing along the rock edges. It’s a great place for a snack or to sit back and take a few long deep breaths. The views you get here are outstanding! Take some time to enjoy the scenery from the top.

Hiking Trails

There are some really amazing trails to check out when in Grandfather Mountain. You can access several from the parking lot of the swinging bridge and also the hiker’s parking area. The trails from the swinging bridge are marked as extremely strenuous. They include ladders and ropes and some steep climbing! Our 9 year old was able to manage them just fine, matter of fact he loved it. It’s definitely a challenge but not overwhelming. We hiked the Grandfather trail up to Macrae Peak and looped back to the Underwood trail on our way back down. Honestly, one of our favorite trails in all of NC. It’s so fun! If you enjoy hiking, don’t miss this!

Nature Museum and Wildlife Habitat

We loved this part of our trip! The wildlife habitat is a sweet little exhibit of a few NC animals. You can see black bears, otters, bald eagles and elk! The otters were our favorite. They were so playful the day we visited. We also enjoyed talking with the keepers of the animals. They really took time to answer all of Silas’ questions, which were a lot! There is also a little museum to check out here and this is where the cafe is located.

Fun Spots to Check Out

Split Rock – this is a fun rock formation to stop and check out! It’s pretty cool how it has formed.

Forrest Gump’s Famous Run – One day he just started running. Did you know that a part of the Forrest Gump running scene was filmed in Grandfather Mountain? We actually had no idea. You can check out this fun location in the park and it’s marked as Forrest Gump’s curve!

Wood’s Walk & Picnic Area – we spent some time here walking this easy trail and relaxing after a day spent exploring. There are several great picnic tables and shelters here too!

Takeaways

Grandfather Mountain is a great place to go the adventure way! We were kind of surprised by how much we enjoyed our visit. The hiking trail to Macrae Peak was probably our favorite part because it was so unexpected. We really thought the swinging bridge was the only thing you did here. Between the bridge, hiking and animals – we were sold. The park reminded us a lot of Chimney Rock because there is a portion ran by the state and also a portion that is a paid attraction. We have now visited both the Grandfather Mountain state park and attraction and both were a fun and enjoyable experience! If you haven’t made it to Grandfather Mountain yet and crossed the swinging bridge – put it on your NC Bucket list!

PS! Looking for other awesome NC locations to visit? Check out our guides to Mt. Mitchell, South Mountains or Mayo River!

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Have you visited Grandfather Mountain? What was your favorite part about your trip? Share with us in the comments!