The Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation has named Courtney Lane its new director of development. Lane, whose duties include managing the engagement of donors and supporters of Grandfather Mountain, comes from the Crossnore School & Children’s Home in nearby Crossnore, where she served in advancement for nearly four years.
Grandfather Mountain is more than a mile high, but plans for a new “Conservation Campus” will take the park’s educational mission above and beyond. In fall 2019, the mountain will break ground on an ambitious project to help guests better explore, understand and value the wonders of Grandfather Mountain.
Grandfather Mountain will open its gates to High Country residents,…
Call it a picture perfect weekend. Grandfather Mountain’s annual Nature Photography Weekend…
On Monday, March 25, Grandfather Mountain bid farewell to Aspen, a Western cougar and longtime…
Starting April 1, guests of Grandfather Mountain will notice a slight increase in the cost of…
Grandfather Mountain invites educators to take advantage of its classroom in the clouds — for…
At Grandfather Mountain, education is literally a top priority. After all, when your classroom…
Grandfather Mountain is open daily throughout winter, weather permitting, with the exception of…
At Grandfather Mountain, records aren’t broken; they’re blown away. At around midnight Feb. 25,…
At Grandfather Mountain, records aren’t broken; they’re blown away. At around midnight Feb. 25,…
Around 4 a.m. on Feb. 13, the nonprofit nature park’s weather recording station at the Mile High Swinging Bridge registered a three-second gust of 121.3 miles per hour. This beats the mountain’s previous record of 120.7 mph, recorded Dec. 21, 2012.
Grandfather Mountain is open daily throughout winter, weather permitting, with the exception of Christmas Day. When winter weather arrives, however, visitors are encouraged to call the Entrance Gate at (828) 733-4337 to confirm the day’s conditions and set the stage for a memorable outing.
With 2019 underway, Grandfather Mountain’s calendar of events is in peak condition. With a mission to inspire conservation of the natural world by helping guests explore, understand and value the wonders of Grandfather Mountain, the nonprofit nature park and its staff are readying for a fun and eventful year.
As the partial government shutdown continues, Grandfather Mountain will offer complimentary admission to affected government employees. Throughout the duration of the shutdown, affected federal employees and their guests (up to six total in the same vehicle) will receive free admission to Grandfather Mountain, with proof of federal employment, such as federal ID or a paystub.
2018 made a splash on Grandfather Mountain. As per the recording site at Grandfather’s Nature Museum, where the park’s naturalists gather daily records, some 123.62 inches of precipitation fell on the mountain last year.
Grandfather Mountain will be closed Christmas Eve (due to inclement weather) and Christmas Day, to reopen with regular hours Wednesday, Dec. 26, weather permitting. During winter, guests are encouraged to call the park’s Entrance Gate at (828) 733-4337 before making the trip to check on the day’s weather conditions and opening status.
With winter on the way, Grandfather Mountain is decking its halls — and hills — for the holidays. Visitors are invited to celebrate the season from a mile high, where they’ll encounter idyllic winter scenery, invigorating outdoor adventure and more at the Linville, N.C., nature park.
Grandfather Mountain will be closed Thursday, Nov. 22, for the Thanksgiving holiday. The park will resume regular business hours Friday, Nov. 23, weather permitting.
It costs only $10 to send a child on a Grandfather Mountain field trip. The resulting experience, however, is priceless. To bolster its field trip scholarship, the nonprofit Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation is again participating in #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving on Nov. 27, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving,
Grandfather Mountain has mountains of tricks and treats in store for its annual Halloween festival, Beary Scary Halloween, returning Saturday, Oct. 27. The special day features a spooky selection of nature programs, Halloween-themed crafts, a costume contest, animal enrichments and six trick-or-treating locations throughout the mountain. All activities are included with the price of admission, and kids in costume get in for half price.
Due to inclement weather, Grandfather Mountain will be closed for the day Thursday, Oct. 11. The park will reopen Friday, Oct. 12, at 9 a.m., weather permitting.
The Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation isn’t about moving mountains; just people. This week, however, the nonprofit organization that owns and operates the Grandfather Mountain nature park moved a veritable mountain of donations to victims of Hurricane Florence.
As the Blue Ridge Mountains begin to burst with fall color, Grandfather Mountain invites leaf-lookers to see the brilliant change from one of the best leaf-looking destinations in the South. Grandfather Mountain is home to myriad species of plants and hardwood trees that range from pumpkin-colored beech trees to blood-red sourwoods and rusty red oaks.
Due to projected heavy rainfall from Hurricane Florence, Grandfather Mountain will close for the day on Sunday, Sept. 16, to reopen at 9 a.m. Monday, Sept. 17, weather permitting. The park will remain open Friday and Saturday, Sept. 14 and 15, during regular business hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (with ticket sales ending at 5 p.m.), weather permitting. As Grandfather Mountain is a privately owned, nonprofit nature park, it is not affected by the N.C. State Parks closures. For more information, call (800) 468-7325.
Originally scheduled for Sept. 15, the special day was rescheduled for Sept. 22, due to projected inclement weather from Hurricane Florence. On Girl Scout Day, all Girl Scouts in uniform and their troop leaders are admitted to Grandfather Mountain for free, while discounted admission is available for family members joining them.
The park will celebrate its Junior Rangers and welcome more to their numbers with the inaugural Junior Ranger Day, taking place Saturday, Sept. 8, from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at Grandfather Mountain. Throughout the day, kids can search for salamanders, dig in the dirt and examine insects. There will also be arts and crafts programs that aren’t a part of Grandfather’s typical programming.
Being a mile high has its advantages. From atop Grandfather Mountain, visitors can grab a front-row seat to one of nature’s most stunning spectacles — thousands of raptors migrating over the mountains and heading south toward their wintering grounds. Guests can observe the raptors during the annual Hawk Watch, in which official counters and volunteers note the number of passersby in the sky throughout the entire month of September.
Visitors are familiar with Grandfather Mountain’s resident animals, including black bears, bald eagles, cougars, river otters and elk. But what do they do after dark? Guests can find out Saturday, Sept. 29, at Grandfather Mountain’s annual Creatures of the Night & Bonfire Delight, a nighttime event that features fun and spooky stories told by firelight, along with rare after-dark tours.
The next installment of Grandfather Mountain’s evening lecture series is looking to be a page-turner. On Thursday, Aug. 16, the Linville, N.C., nature park will host bestselling Appalachian novelist Amy Greene, as part of the Grandfather Presents series.
