This review is about the Town Park right next to the Town Hall. It's a beautiful clean, well…read moremaintained green space with a little something for everyone in the family: two sets of age-appropriate playground equipment, paved greenway, amphitheater, restrooms, soccer field, benches, fire pit, nostalgic barn, picnic tables and shelters, outdoor exercise equipment, babbling brook, and dog park! If you're in Banner Elk find this gem and get out and play!

Beautiful Serene Calming and if you pick the right time of day or year quiet too. A local said it…read morecan get quite crowded in peak season. You have several routes to choose from we did the shortest which was just a loop around the pond!

Gorgeous views! Wonderful hiking…read more We fished at Trout Lake and enjoyed the 1/2 mile hike from the parking lot to the dam. Next time we'll go all the way around. About 1 mile total.

Don't let the name fool you. It's not really a swinging bridge - but it does creak. And those…read moresounds are a bit alarming as you're hiking up Grandfather Mountain. Admission to the mountain is $25/person. And it's highly recommended you pre-pay online, especially during tourist season when spots fill up. To get to Mile High Swinging Bridge, you pay the admission and can park in the various areas. The top of the mountain does have a parking lot, a gift shop, and restrooms; but the top parking lot fills up. So we parked farther down and did the 20-30 minute hike up. Take a lot of pics during your nervous walk across the bridge. Great views as you're 5,280 feet above sea level. Also, do not wear flip flops! I see a lot of people, even little kids, running around the top of the mountain with flip flops. What in the world?!

So totally worth it. The town is wonderful. We enjoyed just the approach to the mountain…read more Grandfather Mountain is very cool with a legendary history. The swinging bridge was just another jewel in their crown of glory. I totally recommend it for young and Old the Vista points are stupendous. And there's a really wonderful video to watch and a nature center, and even some animals to catch up with.

Another beautiful overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway at an elevation of 3,240 feet. The views…read morefrom Grandview Overlook are extra-special when fall colors are blazing away on the hills. Generally speaking, this region of North Carolina sees peak autumn foliage in early to mid-October unfortunately we were a little early arriving here early September but the view was still spectacular. Only about 15 minutes from Boone, the Grandview Overlook offers a superb view at Milepost 281.4 along the Blue Ridge Parkway. While you won't find picnic tables, restrooms, or other facilities, the views out over seemingly endless ridges and valleys are well worth the stop. That's especially true at sunrise!

Located at the intersection of Skyland View Drive and US-321, this marker recalls the place where…read morean educator had an impact on the local community. The marker reads, "Emily Prudden, 1832-1917. Missionary. Founded 15 western N.C. schools including Pfeiffer College forerunner. Her Skyland Institute stood here." Online, there is more information. "Few educators were better known in western North Carolina at the turn of the century than Miss Emily C. Prudden (1832-1917). In his eulogy Congregational minister George Dickerman estimated that no less than 10,000 students had passed through her schools." "Prudden was one among many "Yankee schoolmarms" who came South in the late nineteenth century. At age fifty-one, she left her native Connecticut, where she had raised her late sister's orphaned children, to serve as housemother at Brainerd Institute in Chester, South Carolina. Her accomplishments over the next thirty years were all the more remarkable in light of the fact that from the age of seventeen she was deaf. She began her work in North Carolina in 1884 when she acquired fifty acres at All Healing Springs in Gaston County. Her school there was known in time as Jones Seminary and later as Linwood College. In 1888, she established Lincoln Academy nearby for black females. From this beginning she went on to found schools at Blowing Rock, Connelly Springs, Saluda, Elk Park (one white, one black), Mill Springs, Cedar Valley, Lawndale, Brevard, Tryon, and near Lenoir. This last one was her greatest success. Oberlin Home and School, transferred to the care of the Woman's Home Missionary Society in 1903, was the direct forerunner of Pfeiffer University at Misenheimer." "The strategy she followed at Oberlin was the one she used elsewhere: to establish a school and, after a few years, transfer control to an organization (usually religious and most often the American Missionary Association) better able financially than she to keep it going. Consequently Prudden usually did not stay in one community more than two or three years. Upon retirement in 1909 she returned to Blowing Rock, site of her Skyland Institute founded in 1887. Prudden's body was returned to Connecticut for burial. The site of Skyland Institute and her home is now the location of a condominium complex." [Review 15910 overall - 3126 in North Carolina - 1415 of 2021.]

Before driving through the area I had looked prior to starting the drive if there were any…read moreinteresting places to see that I may never have the opportunity to see again - this covered bridge is one I had booked marked so why not. I consider these types of structures interesting and definitely qualifies as a roadside attraction and oddity in my opinion. We arrived mid-day to find a few visitors mulling around snapping a few photos and taking advantage of the free access. The Doe River below was filled with ducks and geese swimming and looking for a free handout, apparently they have become accustomed to the generosity of the visitors here. This is a well built bridge that reminds you of how things used to be built there aren't many projects now days that are built to last 143 years, although this covered bridge hasn't been in service since the Federal Highway Administration and the Tennessee Department of Transportation funded a $400,000 bridge rehabilitation in 2003-2004 at that time, it was closed to vehicular traffic and converted into a pedestrian-only bridge. It's definitely a survivor having withstood major flood events in 1901, 1940, 1998 and the horrific flooding in September 2024 and she still stands as beautiful as ever...

Me and my wife recently stopped by here today to see what this bridge had to offer. Ground screw…read morethat work with the city were installing Christmas lights around the area. This Bridge very historical and it features plenty of information nearby across the river. This bridge is an easy walk though there are no Scenic views at all inside . Though there are paths to walk through there is a area for pedestrians on the narrow side where everyone else gets to have the larger section.

Friendly staff for sure! They are good about being timely and making sure everything you need is…read moretaken care of. They really care about their patients and are taking great measures to ensure everyone's safety during the pandemic.

Great little monument in the heart of Elizabethton. I recently stopped here at first since this was…read morea roundabout and then I came back to go buy it again just to go to the covered wagon. This Monument is a staple to the community and the history behind it is absolutely breathtaking. Thankfully there's not a lot of traffic here so you could run over to the monument and read the history behind it. During the winter time this Monument is decorated.

Located on the east side of the river, this tall granite obelisk honors the veterans of all wars. I…read morethought initially that it might have been a Confederate monument, but no. This is all wars from the Revolutionary War to the present date. "Built in honor of all soldiers of Carter County in all wars from the Revolution down to this date, 1912." The base of the Monument was constructed out of river rock that was brought from banks of the nearby Doe River and held together by hand-mixed cement. The base measures about 20 feet and the body of the structure measures about 65 feet high, which was a significant height when built. The top is a single piece that is pyramid shaped. Located in the center of a traffic circle where North Main Street meets South Main Street, it is just across from the old court house. [Review 14961 overall, 463 of 2021, number 264 in Tennessee.]