![]() ![]() Banner Elk is located in the heart of Sugar Mountain Ski Resort and Beech Mountain Ski Resort, and offers a small village environment with friendly people who will make you feel welcome from the moment you arrive.Īt Cornerstone's Cabin Rentals and Lodge we offer three great cabins and a large Lodge with awesome views overlooking our open field, meandering streams and ponds. Grandfather Mountain’s website is available by clicking here.Banner Elk and the mountains of North Carolina's High Country offer the perfect setting for your next vacation, wedding, family reunion, church groups or business retreats. All lodging options are available here, while a restaurant listing is available here. For special Grandfather Mountain lodging packages, click here. Ticket proceeds are used to preserve and protect Grandfather Mountain for future generations.īanner Elk’s close proximity makes it an ideal place to stay when visiting to Grandfather Mountain. Guests purchase tickets (one ticket per person) and drive their own vehicles through the park, stopping along the way to enjoy a variety of activities. That includes the Mile High Swinging Bridge, which can be accessed by driving to the parking lot at the top of the mountain and taking the Top Shop elevator to a paved path that leads to the bridge.Īdmission tickets are needed to visit Grandfather Mountain. ![]() The reserves are places designated by the United Nations for testing approaches to understanding changes and interactions between social and ecological systems, including the sustainable management of biodiversity.Īs rugged as it is, many attractions at Grandfather Mountain are accessible to people of all abilities. Grandfather Mountain is also a UNESCO International Biosphere Reserve. She served as the mountain’s unofficial mascot until her death in 1992 at the age of 26. They are named after Mildred the Bear, who was released on the mountain in 1968 but chose to hang around the attraction instead of scampering into the wilderness like her brother did. There are habitats for elk, black bears, cougars, bald eagles and river otters. Visitors to Banner Elk often ask where they can see live elk, and the answer is the Mildred the Bear Environmental Wildlife Habitats at Grandfather Mountain. ![]() Two gift shops and an eco-friendly fudge shop.Picnicking on more than 100 tables and grills.On super clear days, the skyline of Charlotte (90 miles to the south) can be seen.Īdditional fun can be had on the mountain in the following ways: On a clear day, folks can view nearby peaks like Sugar Mountain, Grandmother Mountain, Table Rock and Hawksbill, as well as further away peaks like Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Rockies. The Mile High Swinging Bridge not only offers the thrill of traversing a rocky chasm at an altitude of 5,280 feet, it also provides access to the mountain’s Linville Peak, a rocky bald that offers amazing 360-degree views of the North Carolina High Country. The floorboard at that point is now marked with the elevation. ![]() The bridge was estimated to be a mile above sea level and served hundreds of thousands of visitors until 1999, when it was rebuilt with stronger cables, plus floorboards and side rails made of galvanized steel instead of wood.Ī few years later, when the Morton family transferred the mountain’s ownership to the nonprofit Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation, a geological survey concluded that a spot in the middle of the bridge was indeed 5,280 feet (one mile) above sea level. The Mile High Swinging Bridge has captured imaginations since Grandfather Mountain’s original owner, Hugh Morton, installed the suspension bridge in 1952 across a chasm near the peak. Plus, special lodging packages are available that include Grandfather tickets. It is easy to spend an entire day at Grandfather Mountain thanks to a variety of experiences, such as hiking wilderness trails, viewing wildlife at the animal habitats, visiting the Nature Museum, grabbing a bite to eat at Mildred’s Grill and walking across the famous Mile High Swinging Bridge. Once inside the front gate, visitors enjoy an ecologically diverse nature preserve that blends the rugged adventure of a remote mountain with lower-impact activities and modern conveniences. It’s a 15-minute drive from Banner Elk to the entrance of Grandfather Mountain, one of North Carolina’s largest and most popular attractions. ![]()
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