Best places: Tourist attractions in Avery County, United States

Reached via a wooden walkway, this lookout area on Rough Ridge offers sweeping views.

A segment of the Blue Ridge Parkway, this concrete, S-shaped bridge hugs Grandfather Mountain.

Expansive mountain park with challenging trails, rocky cliffs, scenic views & camping (with permit).

Nature preserve with rugged peaks, alpine hiking trails, a nature museum & backcountry camping.

Built in 1952, this mile-high pedestrian bridge offers sweeping views of Grandfather Mountain.

👍👍 Stay on the trail to the very end. There is an overlook that’s worth seeing before you reach the end, but the best sunrise spot is all the way back. Amazing sunrise spot. We had breakfast and watched the sunrise. It’s a short hike with parking right at the trailhead.

👍 So much fun!!! This was probably the best part of our weekend trip. No line when we went. Very friendly staff. Only complaint is you can't divide up the bundle 3 packs. My daughter needed an adult to ride so we got an adult 3 pack and kid 3 pack and figured my husband would go 2x with her and I'd ge...

Dramatic waterfall with cliffside trails & a beach area popular for wading in natural pools.

👍👍 Elk river falls is a easy beautiful waterfall to get to. It was only maybe 0.2 miles to get to the top of the falls and a little less than that to get to the bottom. There a small bit of elevation gain at the beginning with a staircase but flattens out after that. If you go to the bottom there's may...

👍👍 We stopped on our drive to the Airport to stretch our legs and so glad we did! It was a nice walk/hike down to the falls, with the trail being very doable (gravel) but be careful at the end there are rocks and steep steps to navigate to actually get to the falls area, for those with mobility issues....

👍👍 I'm pleasantly surprised with this place. The girls, 18 & 20, really wanted to go but I figured it was a typical tourist trap. In all honesty it kind of is. But we had an absolute blast. They found a lot of different stones, large ones actually, some as big as 4" round. Different colored crystals mo...

👍👍 The Yonahlossee Overlook was a great little overlook on the Blue Ridge parkway near Blowing Rock, NC. We easily spent an hour here (to be honest 20 minutes was a six year old melt down about not being first into the minivan, but the other 40 minutes was lovely) When you park, take the path to right...

👍👍 Our son and family joined my wife and myself on the New River. We enjoyed a very nice float trip that went between 2-3 miles and lasted just over 2 hours. Water was very gentle and not deep. Our 7 and 9 year old granddaughters loved it!!

👍👍 Had a lot of fun jumping from the falls into the water. Be careful because it is easy to slip and fall on the wet rocks. There are a few spots where the water is deep enough to swim in, but it is very cold. The hike to the falls is not bad, but coming back can be difficult if you're not in the best...

👍👍 Great hike mostly under rhododendrons, with creek crossings, a series of nice water falls, and where there are no rhododendrons you can find trillium, irises, and all kinds of forbes. On the way back, we saved ourselves two fords and followed an existing goat path, staying on the creek side. Plan mo...