Nearby Attractions
The Cradle of Forestry in America is the site of the first forestry school in America – the Biltmore Forest School, founded in 1898 by Dr. Carl Schenck, chief forester for George Vanderbilt’s Biltmore Estate.
The DuPont State Forest (15 miles) is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains between Hendersonville and Brevard, North Carolina. Its 10,400 acres of forest feature four major waterfalls on the Little River and several on the Grassy Creek.
Holmes State Educational Forest is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains. With rugged terrain, numerous rock outcroppings, and scenic vistas, it also offers a rich mixture of mountain hardwoods, rhododendron, flame azaleas, and a variety of wildflowers.
The Pisgah District of the Pisgah National Forest is a mecca for vacationers, naturalists and adventurers, offering a wide range of options for your recreating pleasure. Enjoy hiking and back-packing, camping, fishing, biking, horse-back riding, swimming, rock-climbing, car-touring, waterfalls, wildlife viewing, historical areas, and a variety of special programs. The main season runs from Memorial Day weekend through the change of the leaves in November. The mild southern climate means that most areas are accessible year-round, although since elevations go up to over 6000 feet, there is a high degree of variability to the weather. Summertime daily temperatures average in the 80's in the lower elevations to the 70's to near 80 on the ridges along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Discover Smith-McDowell House, Asheville’s first mansion and oldest surviving structure, now restored as a history museum. Built by one of antebellum North Carolina’s most influential citizens, this National Register property was once the home of mayors, a Confederate Major, and friends of the Vanderbilts at nearby Biltmore Estate.
Thomas Wolfe left an indelible mark on American letters. And his mother's boardinghouse in Asheville, North Carolina—now the Thomas Wolfe Memorial —has become one of literature's most famous landmarks. Named "Old Kentucky Home" by a previous owner, Wolfe immortalized the rambling victorian structure as "Dixieland" in his epic autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel. A classic of American literature, Look Homeward, Angel has never gone out of print since its 1929 publication, keeping interest in Wolfe alive and attracting visitors to the setting for this great novel.
National Park Sites Nearby - located within a two hour drive of the park Local Travel Information and Attractions Nearby National Forests and North Carolina State Sites |
 |
Last updated: July 11, 2026