Balcony Of The Blue Ridge - Avery County North Carolina

Beech Mountain NC Is Split Between Avery & Watauga County, two 
of the most beautiful mountain counties you will ever visit !! 

Avery County NC is known as the Balcony of the Blue Ridge.. Extraordinary mountains, art galleries and even the Avery Quilt Trail .  Need more to do while staying in Avery County? Visit the storied peaks of Grandfather Mountain. View the majestic vistas from Sugar Mountain, Seven Devils, and Beech Mountain – known as some of the High South’s most popular playgrounds! Stop by Banner Elk the quaint one red light town, and home of the World Famous Woolly Worm and Art Festivals and visit its winery and the many shops along the way, hike the Blue Ridge Parkway, Linville Gorge and Elk River Falls.


See more attractions here in the High Country of North Carolina

Snow Tubing - Easy & Fun In The NC Mountains !!

Joe Tennis from The Bristol News recently tried out Snow Tubing - here's his story. 

Insanely popular’

These days, Hawksnest’s snow business focuses on a zipline and more than 20 lanes of tubing at Seven Devils, N.C., said owner Lenny Cottom.

“Tubing really started in the mid-’90s in this area,” Cottom said. “And it’s gone very well here. The thing about tubing is it allows you to do something without a whole lot of knowledge. You don’t have to take the lessons. If you can sit down, you can ride a tube.”

Not far from Seven Devils, Ski Beech boasts a tube run atop Beech Mountain, N.C., that can be braved in the darkness – with floodlights shining on the powder-packed surface during weekend nights.

“A lot of people want to enjoy the snow,” said Ski Beech’s marketing manager, Talia Freeman. “But they don’t want to try snowboarding or skiing.”

That’s where tubing slides in.

“Tubing is insanely popular,” Freeman said. “Tubing is something, obviously, that everyone can do.”

And, this year, Ski Beech features three tubing lanes, including a new J-shaped curve.

‘Anybody can do this’

Near Beech Mountain, Sugar Mountain Resort operates a set of medium-length tubing lanes at Banner Elk, N.C.

“Tubing is a real business,” resort owner Gunther Jochl said. “We’re doing real well in tubing.”

Stopping at Sugar, I tested a tube on a Tuesday.

And it proved just as sweet as sliding down Beech Mountain in the dark.

Still, Sugar’s tube supervisor advised me to put my feet down and apply brakes as I passed the tubing run’s orange-and-black “SLOW” signs; not slowing down could cause you to fly onto a hill and spill into a patch of pine trees.

Braking certainly sounded like a good idea after my slam-bam-I’m-sorry-ma’am with Rhonda Johnson the day before.

Only, applying brakes soaked my legs with snow.

But, hey you can count me luckier than a sidelined Sunny Garcia, a Raleigh, N.C., artist who split apart a shoe on her fourth run down Sugar Mountain’s tube slope. “I was trying to stop myself as I was going down,” said Garcia, 37. “And I guess the shoe – the sole – just separated.”

Busted shoe or not, Garcia stood anxious to try it all again with her 7-year-old daughter, Bianca.

And so did Julie Alkire, a florist from Hilton Head Island, S.C.

“We love it,” said Alkire, who went tubing at Sugar Mountain with her six-year-old daughter, Gracie. “And anybody can do this, which is great."

Check out all the snow fun at Beech Mountain Ski Resort.

or Hawksnest Snow Tubing and Zipline

or Sugar Mountain Skiing and Tubing

Lots Of Snow-Great Skiing On Beech Mtn NC

BEECH MOUNTAIN, NC --


This year's ski season is shaping up to be one of the better ones in recent memory thanks to the recent snow and cold. North Carolina's Beech Mountain Resort has already received more than four feet of snow this month alone. That's a third of what fell on Beech Mountain all of last year and the season has just begun.

“I would say these are some of the best conditions you’re going to have here,” Beech Mountain Resort Director of Marketing and Sales Talia Freeman said. “You can’t ask for better ski conditions than having natural powder out.”

Thousands of skiers took to the slopes Tuesday to take advantage of the good conditions.

“They’re excellent,” George Seaton of Washington County, TN said. “It’s a beautiful day. I don’t know how it could be any better.”

138 inches of snow fell on Beech Mountain last season, which was considered a good year. With 50 inches of natural snowfall so far this season, Beech Mountain hopes things are looking up again this year.

"It's a great feeling,” Freeman said. “The slopes are in great shape.”

Wooly Worm Festival - Banner Elk NC This Weekend 10/16 & 17

Wooly Worm Festival
Banner Elk NC
This Weekend - 10/16 & 17, 2o10
Saturday 10/16/10 9am-5pm
Sunday 10/17 10 9am - 4pm

For the 33rd year the town of Banner Elk has welcomed both old and new friends to the annual Woolly Worm Festival.

This family event co-hosted by the Avery County Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Organization of Banner Elk welcomes more than 23,000 people to the community to make family memories and also to win the prestigious title of predicting the High Country weather and the chance to win the $1000 bounty.

Some changes and additions from last year’s festival continuing through this year; opening the gates at 9:00 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday and the expansion of the kid’s area in the park. There was special music on Sunday by the John Schuffler Band and local family pricing as well on Sunday.

For more info about the Wooly Worm Festival - check the website.

Autumn At Oz-Beech Mtn NC Oct 2-3, 2010 *Limited Tickets*

Walk the Yellow Brick Road to Oz on Beech Mountain NC - Saturday & Sunday October 2 & 3, 2010.

Come meet your favorite Oz characters, Dorothy, Tin Man, Lion, Scarecrow, Witches and the Wizard. They're all there. Visit Auntie Em's farm and hide from the tornado in the basement.

Lot's of fun, food, music, hay rides, memorabilia and more. Tickets are $16.50 in advance and $20.00 at the party. Children 2 years and under are free. ****A limited number of 7000 tickets will be sold and are available on line. ** Buy Tickets Online

Tickets are non-refundable, no exceptions. This event is rain or shine, snow or twisters too.

Ski Beech Resort will offer scenic lift rides from Land of Oz to Ski Resort and back to Oz for $10.00.

The weather at Oz can be rather blustery after a tornado so bring a jacket, umbrella, sweatshirt just in case. Oz is not handicap or large stroller friendly.

Tour sessions are Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 12, 12 to 2 and

2 to 4. Both days are broken down into 3 sessions to accommodate our visitors. It does not mean that you can spend only 2 hours in Oz. The sessions indicate the date and hours you can load on a bus or hay ride to the Autumn at Oz Party. Both days events are the same.

If you are unable to buy tickets on line they may be purchased, pending availability, from the Beech Mountain Chamber of Commerce by mail or by visiting the chamber office prior to the event date.

Groups of 15 or more may purchase group tickets (Sunday Only) at $13.50 each. Contact the chamber office at 800-468-5506 for special mailing instructions and group tickets.

No credit card sales will be accepted Oct 2-3 (event dates) or by the Beech Mountain Chamber of Commerce. Cash and Checks only. Visitors are strongly encouraged to purchase tickets on line to assure your choice of day and session.

Visit www.emeraldmtn.com for driving directions and the history of the Land of Oz.

Mile High Kite Festival - Beech Mountain NC Sept 5, 2010

Mile High Kite Festival

Beech Mountain, NC

will be held on Sun,

Sept 5th 10am - 4pm

This will be the eighth year for the Mile High Kite Festival. The Richmond Air Force and the Charlotte WACKOS kite club will be partaking in the Festival. The 8th Annual Mile High Kite Festival is hosted by the Beech Mountain Chamber of Commerce.

There will be refreshments, and many vendors at the Kite Festival. Kids of all ages can come out and enjoy participating or watch the kites fly! There will be FREE kites for the first 200 kids. There will be prizes given out for the smallest and largest kites and best decorated kite.

On September 4th, there will be a kite workshop in the field across from town hall for those kids that want to learn how to make a kite. Also on Saturday evening from 7p.m. to 9p.m - 9/4/10. there will be a street dance for all ages to enjoy!

For more information please call the Beech Mountain Chamber of Commerce: (828) 387-9283 or (800) 468-5506

Photo from Town of Beech Mountain site

Escape The Heat! Enjoy Cool Temps In The 70s on Beech Mtn NC

Escape The Heat! Enjoy Cool Temps In The 70s on Beech Mtn NC !

What better place to escape 90 degree summer days than in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC.. The average summer temperature on Beech Mountain NC is in the mid 70s!

Check out Ray's Weather for Beech Mtn - the prediction for the week of 6/14-20 shows a high of 74.. Perfect for hiking, fishing or just relaxing !

The Town of Beech Mountain is located in North-Western North Carolina near the North Carolina - Tennessee state line. The Town is situated on the Watauga/Avery County Line at the end of NC 184. NC 184, also known as The Beech Mountain Parkway, is the main road into the town from Banner Elk.

Beech Mountain is nestled in the Southern Appalachian Highlands between Roan Mountain, Tennessee, and Boone, North Carolina. It's less than six hours from Atlanta, less than seven from Cincinnati, and only five hours from Nashville, Tennessee.