The highest-elevation town of its size in the East, Boone, North Carolina—home to Appalachian State University—is the beloved “Heart of the High Country,” and its cool Blue Ridge heights have long been a refuge for folks sweltering through summer in the lowlands.
Many vacationers find themselves traveling to Boone year after year, decade after decade—a phenomenon that’s sometimes called the “Boonerang Effect.” Take a day trip up here, and you may find yourself becoming the latest traveler to become afflicted!
Here are some ideas for what to see and do while becoming acquainted with Boone’s charms...
Sightseeing & Photo Ops in Downtown Boone
Boone’s historic (and happening) downtown is a natural springboard for your day-tripping explorations. The Jones House Cultural Center (604 W. King St.) will invariably have something going on. Built in 1908 as the family home and office for Dr. John Walter Jones and sold to the Town of Boone by his daughter, Mazie Jones Levenson, in the early 1980s to serve as a community and cultural hub, the center offers concert series (indoors and out), Thursday night jam sessions open to the public, art galleries, music/dance lessons, and more.
Be sure to swing by the venerable, 1940-built Boone Post Office (680 W. King St.)—on the National Register of Historic Places—to admire the New Deal-era mural, Daniel Boone on a Hunting Trip in Watauga County, painted by Alan Tompkins and honoring the town’s namesake frontiersman.
No visit to Boone’s complete without at least a walk-through of the Mast General Store (630 W. King St.), aka the Old Boone Mercantile, which became an extension of the W.W. Mast family’s original general store (still operating less than 10 miles away in Valle Crucis) in 1988. Occupying the old Hunt’s Department Store building, the store lives up to its name with a whole plethora of goods on offer, including topnotch outdoor gear. And it delights the youngins with the downstairs Candy Barrel, chockablock with toys and old-timey treats.
Be sure to nab a picture with the statue of native son and musical legend Doc Watson (King & Depot), born in nearby Deep Gap, NC and a regular performer in Boone (including at the Jones House). A hugely influential fingerpicker, Doc nabbed seven Grammy Awards over his lifetime and was there on June 24, 2011 when the statue was unveiled (he’d insisted, with typical humility, that the accompanying plaque read, “Just one of the people”).
And in one of his last public performances, Doc played that day at the Jones House in what became the inaugural celebration of the official Doc Watson Day, which continues to be marked by plenty of great music-making each year.
Take in the Many Attractions of Daniel Boone Park
The 36.5-acre Daniel Boone Park is another must-visit on a getaway to the Heart of the High Country. For one thing, it’s host to the Daniel Boone Amphitheater, where, each and every summer, the Horn in the West Outdoor Drama evokes the colonial/Revolutionary War chapter of High Country history. More historical delvings await at the Hickory Ridge History Museum, which stages numerous living-history demonstrations.
You can also stroll through the Daniel Boone Native Gardens and take in the serenity—and lovely views—of the Strawberry Hill Arboretum. Daniel Boone Park also hosts one of Boone’s several seasonal markets: the May-to-November Watauga County Farmers’ Market.
Explore the Blue Ridge Parkway
Boone lies just off the beloved, 470-mile-long Blue Ridge Parkway, “America’s Favorite Drive,” which traces the Southern Appalachian high country between Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains national parks. The Parkway in Boone’s vicinity comes packed with gorgeous pull-offs and limitless recreational opportunities. Drink in the vistas over Boone Camp Branch and Elk Creek out toward the faroff Yadkin River Valley from the Grandview Overlook, stop at Boone’s Trace, along where Daniel Boone scouted out the Wilderness Road, or picnic, play, and sightsee amid the vast conjoined acreage of Julian Price Memorial Park and Moses H. Cone Memorial Park.
Meanwhile, the Boone-area Blue Ridge Parkway gives you access to some of the greatest Southern Appalachian landmarks, including the spectacular plunge of Linville Falls and the huge humped crest of Grandfather Mountain. That 5,946-foot apex of the Blue Ridge Escarpment is known for its skyline dominance, its challenging hiking trails, and such attractions as the Mile High Swinging Bridge.
Get Active
Linville Falls, Grandfather Mountain, and other outdoor destinations along the Blue Ridge Parkway are only some of your hiking options in Boone. Right in town, for instance, you can take to the trails of the Appalachian State University Nature Preserve, or climb to a swoony view overlooking Boone at Howard’s Knob County Park.
Then there’s the Wilderness Run Alpine Coaster (3265 Tynecastle Hwy, Banner Elk, NC), which zips you down nearly 2,400 feet of slopeside track at speeds up to 27 miles per hour, and the 10-plus miles of awesome trails at Rocky Knob Mountain Bike Park (285 Mtn Bike Wy, Boone, NC). Or how about the fantastic, 40-foot Rock Dimensions Climbing Tower at Footsloggers Outfitters (131-B Depot St., Boone, NC) right in downtown Boone?
High-elevation Boone’s also one of the premier hubs for snowsports in the Southeast. The local ski industry kicked off in the early 1960s, and today a cluster of ski resorts—including the highest-elevation one in the East, Beech Mountain Resort, the largest in North Carolina, Sugar Mountain Resort, and the area’s oldest, Appalachian Ski Mountain—are magnets for downhillers.
Ride the Tweetsie Railroad
In 1919, rail service to formerly isolated Boone became a reality with the opening of a East Tennessee & Western North Carolina (ET&WNC) Railroad line laid through the rough Blue Ridge terrain. (The website of the Mast General Store quotes the mayor of Banner Elk, NC at the opening celebration as saying, “I remember when the only way a person could get to Boone was to be born there.”) The 1940 flood put an end to Boone’s train service and ET&WNC narrow-gauge operations had ended by a decade later.
Only one ET&WNC locomotive survived: Engine No. 12, which, lovingly restored and maintained, gives scenic rides today on the Tweetsie Railroad. (The name derives from the fond label given by local residents to the mountain locomotives back in the day, a reference to the sound of the train whistles.) Young and old will have a blast here: Besides the train rides, there are arcade games, the Deer Park Zoo, a chairlift, and plenty of other fun on tap.
Dining in Boone
As a lively little college town and perennial vacation destination, Boone punches above its weight in the restaurant department. Kick things off with coffee and breakfast at, say, the Sunrise Grill (1675 NC-105) or Stick Boy Bread Co.(345 Hardin St.). And some excellent High Country dining awaits at such eateries as Proper (142 Water St.), CoBo Sushi Bistro & Bar (161 Howard St.), and The Beacon Butcher Bar(125 Graduate Ln, NC-105), plus suds-and-grub watering holes such as Lost Province Brewing Co.(120 N. Depot St.) and Booneshine Brewing Co. (465 Industrial Park Dr.).
Get “Booneranged”
We’ve still only scratched the surface of things to do in Boone—not least in terms of all of the annual festivals and events, from MerleFest and the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games to the Boonerang Music & Arts Festival. But we hope the above itinerary ideas at least get you started with planning a getaway to this irresistible hub of the North Carolina High Country!
