Grandfather Glows: Firefly Viewing

Research on Grandfather Mountain has confirmed the presence of 10 species of fireflies or luminous insects, including synchronous fireflies (Photinus carolinus), blue ghost fireflies (Phausis reticulata) and glowworms (Orfelia fultoni). Synchronous fireflies are habitat specialists and thrive in northern hardwood forests, such as those found at Grandfather Mountain.

These glowing wonders only appear for a few weeks each year. Our annual Grandfather Glows events open our nature park for three nights during mid-June to mid-July, the forecasted peak times, for special bioluminescent evenings, weather and conditions permitting.

Grandfather Glows Events

Each of the three event dates have the same schedule, lasting approximately four hours (7 – 11 p.m.).

Grandfather Glows begins in MacRae Meadows with educational programs led by the park’s naturalists and then transitions up to the viewing area in the park before dark. This evening is a “viewing” event, so please expect to find a spot in the designated viewing area and plan to be there for the event. It is understood that you may need to use the restroom (we will have porta potties onsite) and you may be encouraged by staff to visit certain areas to see something interesting at times – but, in general, the less movement people make, the better the chances to see a good show from the fireflies.

Red-light flashlights will be provided, and guests should come prepared for cool weather and with appropriate footwear for an evening on the mountain. Guests are also encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets and to be prepared for a variety of the mountain’s weather conditions.

Wheelchair Accessibility + Viewing Area for Those With Limited Mobility

We are excited to share that the event is accessible for those in a wheelchair. Once shuttled up to the viewing area, individuals in wheelchairs are allowed to go as far up the park road into the viewing area as they would like. Please note, the road is on an incline, so wheelchairs may need some assistance to move up the road. There will be an area designated for those with limited mobility at the bottom of the viewing area, near where shuttles drop off and pick up.

Event participants will have the option of walking to the viewing area from MacRae Meadows (approximately 150 yards of walking) or taking a shuttle. The firefly viewing area is located on a half-mile section of the park’s roads. Staff will be roving the viewing area to provide additional educational opportunities.

Important Info for 2025

Grandfather Glows has received a lot of attention since the event began in 2022. Once again, Grandfather Mountain will be instituting a lottery system for tickets, similar to what is done at national parks for this natural phenomenon. Different from other parks, though, we will sell tickets to the event to lottery winners at a per-person rate rather than per vehicle. Lottery “winners” will able to purchase a maximum of six tickets.

Grandfather Glows Important Dates

May 16: The three 2025 Grandfather Glows event dates (with their corresponding rain dates – see more about rain dates below) are announced. Those dates will be added to this page when they are announced. (Tip: The three events will fall sometime between mid-June and mid-July.) Learn more about what goes into trying to predict the timing of this natural phenomenon here.

May 19 – May 25: The 2025 Grandfather Glows lottery is open. The link to enter will be at grandfatherglows.com.
• The lottery will be open from 12 a.m. Monday, May 19 to 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, May 25, Eastern Time.
• Entries are per person and will be $5, plus tax.
• You do not need to worry about selecting your preferred event date during the initial lottery process.
• Only one entry per email address is allowed. Our system will not allow you to enter the same email address more than once.

Tuesday, May 27 at 10 a.m.: The first round of “winners” will be notified and will be given a link to purchase tickets. If you are selected as a “winner” for this round, you will have the opportunity to purchase up to six tickets. This could be six tickets for one night or six tickets split up across the three different nights. There will be a four-day window to make your purchase. After that window, your opportunity is gone.

Tuesday, June 3 at 10 a.m.: The second round of “winners” will be notified and will be given a link to purchase tickets. If you are selected as a “winner” for this round, you will have the opportunity to purchase up to six tickets. This could be six tickets for one night or six tickets split up across the three different nights. There will be a four-day window to make your purchase. After that window, your opportunity is gone. By the start of the second round, there is a chance that one or more of the event dates will be full or very close to full.

Please note: There will be no waiting list for this event. Once the lottery is over and the above steps have concluded, there will be no remaining tickets. We advise that people do not purchase tickets from a source other than Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation as we cannot verify the validity of those tickets.

Rain Dates – Please Read and Make Sure You Understand This Important Info

We will once again offer a “rain date” for each event date. If Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation cancels an event due to adverse weather or conditions, a rain date will be provided immediately following the event date.

For example, if you are interested in a (hypothetical) July 1 Grandfather Glows event, you need to make sure your schedule is open both July 1 AND July 2. The event will be scheduled for July 1, and we will make every effort to have the event that date.

However, if a forecast of adverse weather conditions threatens the event, we will make the call (by noon the day of the event) and move the event to the July 2 rain date. No refunds will be issued if you purchase a July 1 ticket but aren’t able to attend the event when it is moved to the July 2 rain date.

Refunds will be issued if Grandfather Mountain has to cancel both your original event date and your rain date.

When event dates are announced May 16, we will clearly communicate each date and its corresponding rain date.

Ticketholder-Requested Refunds/Cancellations

If you cannot attend the event that you registered for, please let us know. Full refunds will be given to individuals who reach out to us at least seven days before their event.

Event tickets are transferable. If a ticketholder cannot attend their event or utilize all of their tickets, they are permitted to pass them along to others.

No refunds will be granted for the $5 lottery entry fee, at any time.

Pricing for 2025

For those selected from the lottery to purchase tickets, the pricing will be as follows:
Adult: $50
Child: $40
Bridge Club Adult: $25
Bridge Club Child: $20
Children under 4 are free and do not require a ticket.

*The prices above are subject to tax.
*Lottery winners will receive a one-time $5 coupon to use toward their ticket purchase, as a credit for their initial lottery entry.

What’s the Bridge Club? The Bridge Club is Grandfather Mountain’s annual pass/membership program. In addition to providing members with unlimited regular admission to the park for a year, it also offers a number of other benefits, such as discounts on certain special event tickets, including Grandfather Glows.

To purchase Grandfather Glows tickets with a Bridge Club discount, you MUST have an active membership at the time of event ticket purchase. (We will be checking this and verifying each Grandfather Glows Bridge Club ticket purchase. If you purchase a Grandfather Glows ticket at the Bridge Club rate and are not an active Bridge Club member, we will cancel your Grandfather Glows tickets, and a refund will be issued to you.)

If you have an active INDIVIDUAL Bridge Club membership, you are able to purchase ONE Grandfather Glows ticket at the Bridge Club rate. You can purchase up to six Grandfather Glows tickets TOTAL, but only one can be at the Bridge Club rate.

In order to purchase two to six Grandfather Glows tickets at the Bridge Club rate, you will need to have an active GROUP Bridge Club membership.

Our individual Bridge Club memberships to the park are for one person, while our group Bridge Club memberships are for the “member,” plus five people.

Learn more about the Bridge Club.

Lottery Details

The lottery allows us to generate winners in a completely random fashion. All lottery entries will be run through software that provides an equal opportunity for selection. This year, we have made the decision to not limit the number of lottery entries within the seven-day time period, though we do have some parameters set up for individuals (one entry per email address). We are limiting the number of tickets available for each of the three events to ensure a great experience for our guests and protect our firefly species and their habitat.

Photo by Jim Magruder | Magruder Photography