Asheville Fall Foliage Season
Monday, October 15th, 2018 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Colorful Spirit • Autumn Adventures • Mountain Views
Surrounded by the highest peaks in the East, Asheville is steeped in natural history, fall adventure, and cultural legacies – including America’s Largest Home, Biltmore. Significant variances in altitude among mountain ridges, slopes, and valleys, as well as a large variety of deciduous tree species, give the Blue Ridge Mountains one of the longest and most vibrant leaf seasons in the world, regularly placing the area among the top fall-travel destinations, period.
Downtown Hotels Offer Prime Leaf-Peeping Spots
The AC Hotel Asheville Downtown (a boutique brand by Marriott) is home to Capella on 9, a rooftop restaurant and bar with 360-degree views of mountains and city landmarks. The Cambria Downtown Asheville, set next to the historic Grove Arcade, has the rooftop restaurant Hemingway’s Cuba. Also, check out Pillar Bar at Hilton Garden Inn Asheville Downtown and Montford Rooftop Bar at the Hyatt Place Asheville Downtown.
Craft Brew with a View
With 30 breweries in the city and 38 in Buncombe County, Asheville has the most breweries per capita in the country. Check out the scenery while sipping your beer of choice at Highland Brewing Company’s rooftop patio, along the French Broad River at New Belgium’s “Liquid Center,” or at the top-floor tasting room of Green Man Brewery’s “Greenmansion” in the South Slope. Destination breweries have also been popping up in the scenic countryside around Asheville: Turgua Brewing Company, a small farmhouse brewery set on a five-acre farm in Fairview and using locally sourced fruits and root vegetables, and Whistle Hop, with its antique train-caboose taproom, disc-golf course, and sweeping mountain sights.
Adventurous Ways to See the Color
Asheville has plenty of guided outdoor activities that provide the perfect opportunity to experience the extended color. Try Land & Lore Ecotours with private natural history tour options and hikes to waterfalls near Asheville; combine hiking and outdoor spa treatments for the ultimate forest-bathing experience with Ascend Adventure Wellness; get to know the faces and the places of the local farming community with Asheville Farm-to-Table Tours, also offering three-hour mini tours; or hop on the six-person party paddleboard from Wai Mauna Asheville SUP Tours (season open until October 31) on the world’s third-oldest river, the French Broad.
Asheville Fall Favorites
Float at sunrise for unparalleled views over the beautiful backdrop of Pisgah National Forest with Asheville Hot Air Balloons; seek out the best of nature’s bounty on a foraging tour with No Taste Like Home; take in the stunning vantage from Biltmore’s Rooftop Tour of the estate and beyond; race from peak to peak on tandem-style ziplines (like a rollercoaster through the color!) with Navitat Canopy Adventures’ ultimate thrill ride, the Blue Ridge Experience; cruise along “America’s Favorite Drive,” the Blue Ridge Parkway; or kick back and spend some time on The Omni Grove Park Inn’s Sunset Terrace for its dramatic vistas.
Harvest Season: Fall Flavors
Asheville’s creative culinary community, Foodtopia, showcases the harvest season through special menu items, events, and experiential opportunities. Taste of Biltmore is a two-month celebration of the estate’s farm-to-table heritage, with food and wine taking center stage during a series of elaborate feasts in unexpected settings. Pick apples at one of the region’s dozens of orchards, such as the Orchard at Altapass on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Go for pumpkins at Justus Orchard or Stepp’s Hillcrest Orchard. Then, enjoy a glass of the hard stuff at Noble Cider, Urban Orchard Cider Co., or Black Mountain Ciderworks + Meadery.
Maximize Your Stay: Autumn Travel Packages
» America’s Favorite Drive Package: The Omni Grove Park Inn – Includes overnight accommodations, the Art of Breakfast, a copy of “Best of the Blue Ridge Parkway, The Ultimate Guide to the Parkway’s Best Attractions”
» Picnic on the Parkway: Grand Bohemian Hotel Asheville – Includes overnight accommodations, breakfast for two, a guided Parkway hike for two, gourmet picnic basket, 3-D topography map, wildflower pocket guide, and 10% discount at The Compleat Naturalist store
» Fall Package: Asheville Bed & Breakfast Association – Includes $200 gift certificate for any ABBA inn, “Morning in the Mountains” cookbook, welcome gift from your innkeeper, and baked cookies for the ride home
Visit www.ExploreAsheville.com/packages for seasonal availability.
Fall Fun: Signature Events
» Oktoberfest (October): Bavarian traditions meet Asheville’s eclectic vibe, with lots of local beer on tap
» CiderFest (October): Cider, kids’ activities, and more set along the French Broad River at Salvage Station
» Carolina Bonsai Expo (October): Showcasing juried exhibits by bonsai enthusiasts hailing from a seven-state region at The North Carolina Arboretum
» Burnpile Harvest Fest (October): Hosted by Burial Beer Co., this burgeoning event features seasonal beers from 40+ regional and national breweries, a harvest feast by Burial’s permanent “food truck” kitchen, Salt & Smoke, and live music
» LEAF Festival (October): For more than two decades, LEAF Festival has grown into an epicenter of music, art, and culture for thousands of families, set upon the beautiful Lake Eden grounds in nearby Black Mountain
» Hickory Nut Gap Farm Barn Dances (Fridays in October): Perfect for families – enjoy dinner before dancing the night away, from Contra to Square Dance and Two-Step to Swing
For the latest updates on all things fall, stay tuned for Facebook Live remotes with Explore Asheville’s fall-color experts at www.facebook.com/Asheville. Also, weekly color reports at www.FallintheMountains.com will gather input from biologists and weather experts, color-progression updates from area parks and attractions, autumn travel deals, and fall events.
For more information, visit www.exploreasheville.com.
Fall Facts, FAST!
Asheville is fortunate to have one of the most vivid displays of autumn foliage in the world. Here’s why:
» Extreme Elevations: Ranging from 1,500 feet in the valleys to 6,684 feet at Mount Mitchell (the highest peak east of the Mississippi River), the color show descends the mountains
» Unmatched Biodiversity: There are more than 100 species of deciduous (leaf-shedding) trees in the Blue Ridge Mountains
» This results in an unusually long leaf season, starting late September in the higher elevations and extending through early November in the lower regions
For more information, visit www.ExploreAsheville.com/science-behind-fall-color.
