Weekend at Grandfather Mountain

Since my husband and I have been doing a lot of photography, we do a lot of searching on the web to find special places to go and photograph. We try to find local places or places that are a few hours away, so when my husband was told about Grandfather Mountain it just seemed to be our kind of place.

My husband was told about Grandfather Mountain from a guy he works with. When he got home and did a Google Search on it, we both fell in love instantly. If you love the mountains, love the solitude of nature and enjoy hiking, Grandfather Mountain would be just right for you.

Grandfather Mountain is located in Linville, North Carolina on US 221 and the Blue Ridge Parkway. They have a web site you can visit at Grandfather Mountain

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine being 5,946 feet up on a mountain and when you look around all you see is another world. As you look around all you see are different levels of mountains cascading all around you. All of the photo's in this hubs are photos that I took when we were on the mountain. Honestly, the beauty just takes your breath away.

One of the things that Grandfather Mountain is known for is the mile high swinging bridge. The mile high swinging bridge is 5,280 feet above sea level. Yes, my husband and I both waked across it and from the middle of the bridge I just had to stop and take several photos.

The admission to get into the park is $15.00 a person (I know a little expensive) but that money goes to the careful oversight of the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation to help take care of the mountain for generations to come.

To be honest, the park was very clean and you could tell that a lot of pride and upkeep went into preserving this historical place.

When my husband and I first entered the park, the first thing we did was headed to the swinging bridge. The drive to get to the parking lot of the swinging bridge is like riding up the road on a snakes back. There are so many sharp curves that it makes you a little dizzy. (laughs) I promise though it is worth it once you get up there.

The first thing you will see is the gift shop and restrooms and it takes a few minutes to catch your breath and get use to the air being so different than it is below. Then the excitement grabs you and you can hardly wait to get to the bridge. The walk is not that bad, but again it is just a matter of getting use to breathing.

The bridge has a sign that states only 40 people should walk across at once. I do not understand that because who in the world is going to stop and count how many people are on the bridge? Than what happens if you are the 40th person and others do not pay attention to the sign and begins to walk across while you are on there making it over 40 people?

For me personally, I could hardly wait to get to the middle of the bridge and start taking photos!!

The picture above this hub is actually a photo I took of the cloud coming across the mountain. It was so wild because it got real foggy in a heart beat.

There are other wonderful things to do in Grandfather Mountain Park: besides the swinging bridge my favorite thing was the Wildlife Animal Habitat. I took several photos of the brown bear and black bear. Of course the Otter which LOVED the attention from everyone not to mention he really gave us a show. And of course the cougars who you could tell did not crave the attention.

There is also a Nature Museum, Gift Shop and Restaurant. There is a yummy Fudge Shop also. The park is big enough and there is enough to do that it could be a full day of activities. We spent hours in the park, but headed out because we wanted to hike the Linville Waterfalls, which will be another Hub.

If you seriously are looking for something fun to do and want a weekend getaway, you really should research Grandfather Mountain, I know you will love it and the scenery alone is worth every second of the trip.