Outdoor Recreation in Asheville, North Carolina is a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts. With its stunning natural beauty, diverse landscapes, and mild climate, the city offers a plethora of outdoor recreational activities. Whether you’re seeking thrilling adventures, peaceful hikes, or water-based fun, Asheville has something for everyone. Get ready to embrace nature’s playground and explore the outdoor recreation opportunities that await you in Asheville.
Asheville’s unparalleled natural beauty and diverse landscapes make it a haven for outdoor enthusiasts. Whether you’re seeking thrilling adventures, peaceful hikes, or water-based fun, the city offers a wealth of outdoor recreational activities. From hiking the scenic trails to cycling the winding roads, from whitewater rafting to rock climbing, Asheville has something for everyone. So, pack your gear, lace up your boots, and get ready to embrace nature’s playground in Asheville.
Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventures is a locally owned, professional mountain bike guide company. We offer private mountain bike guided trips in Pisgah and Dupont that are customized to your tastes and ability levels. Our experienced and trustworthy mountain bike guides will take all the hassles out of your route planning and show you a fun experience in a safe and courteous manner. Live life to the absolute fullest through heart-pounding, fist-pumping, soul-fulfilling mountain bike adventures in our backyard.
Join us on our unique day hikes in the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains. We offer mindfulness and meditation day hikes where you can disconnect from screens, slow down, and enjoy the gorgeous mountains outside of Asheville, North Carolina. Our guides are highly experienced in both wilderness guiding and meditative practices. We lead group Mindfulness Hikes every Tuesday-Friday from 9a-1p.
Not into meditation? No problem. We also offer private day hikes that suit what you’d like to see and do on your trip. For our group hikes, once you book with us you’ll receive detailed directions of where to meet us at the trail head. Before our hike we’ll spend 10-20 minutes giving you an overview of mindfulness practices and then hit the trail! We’ll take you to local spots leaving the crowds behind, making sure to point out local flora and fauna along the way. You’ll be shocked how much you notice once you slow down and become more attuned to your senses.
Around noon we’ll find a beautiful spot to break for lunch and enjoy a healthy lunch from a local Asheville eatery. After lunch we’ll spend time swimming, taking in a beautiful view, or admiring a waterfall, all while engaging our 5 senses. Give yourself the opportunity and time to go inward and be fully present on this unique trip.
Closest whitewater rafting outfitter to Asheville, 22 miles northwest, Blue Heron Whitewater offers a variety of trips on the French Broad River. Choose the trip that fits your group and schedule. Half-day trips enjoy five miles, class II-III rapids, minimum age is 8. Full day trips enjoy eight miles, a fresh, deli-style lunch and a class IV rapid, minimum age is 8. Families with younger children can choose the calm water Float Trip, minimum age is 4. When water levels permit, the adventurous may opt to paddle inflatable kayaks, or guide their own raft. Blue Heron guides share the best rapid routes they know, and in the pools between, the human and natural history of this ancient river corridor. We provide the river-related gear, including splash jacket and pants,and wet-suits in cool weather, no extra charge. Hot showers on site. High quality experience, competitively priced. A fun rafting trip engages you with the mountains. When you are on the river you are no longer a spectator!
Asheville Bicycle Company is not just another “Bike Shop.” We offer the most progressive customer service and customer retention programs available. We strive to make your purchase not only the right purchase but to give you peace of mind that Asheville Bicycle Company is behind you all the way – from the day you make a purchase to the coming years that you enjoy that purchase.
Asheville Bicycle Company is a part of the Ski Country Sports family. Ski Country Sports began in 1990, specializing in ski equipment, clothing and inline skates. However, the shop quickly grew to also become one of the leading bike shops in the area with a full line of bicycles, including road, mountain, BMX and youth bikes. The shop also boasts one of the largest service centers in Asheville and the surrounding area. In 2015, the bike portion of the shop broke off into Asheville Bicycle Company, which remains the leading area dealer of Giant and Kona products.
The O-RIGINAL Motion Makers was founded by Norm and Dianne Harrell in 1986 when their son, Benji, was riding skateboards and BMX bikes. Norm was good at helping Benji’s friends with their wheeled fun and opened Motion Makers on Hwy 107 in Sylva, NC as a way to provide this sport to the Sylva market. Around 1993, they moved into a 1920’s building in the heart of downtown Sylva, which was just starting to revitalize from many years of vacant buildings.
In 1997, Dave and Sandy Molin purchased the store. They had moved down from Vermont to escape the winters. Dave, a practicing Pharmacist, worked at several pharmacies in the area until he noticed that Motion Makers was for sale. An avid cyclist, it looked like the perfect job to relax and enjoy his sport and get out of the corporate world of pharmacy.
In 2007, “Surly” Dave convinced Kent Cranford to consider buying the shop.
Kent started racing and working on bikes as a BMX kid in the late 70’s. Spurred on by his father’s love of riding and tinkering with bikes, he quickly learned the basics of flat changes and converting coaster brake hubs into freewheels and other BMX mods of the day.
At age 16, the local bike shop, Bicycle City, offered him some work during Christmas building bicycles, then during summers. While in college, he worked at Harper’s Schwinn in Knoxville, TN, then at Skedaddle Bicycles in Murfreesboro, TN.
After graduating from MTSU, Kent headed out to Colorado to visit his brother who was in school at CSU. While there, the call of the Rockies sent him job hunting where he found a job at Keystone ski resort for the rest of the winter. Near the end of the ski season, he took a job at the Knorr House in Breckenridge, CO assembling their fleet of rental bikes for that summer. Later that spring of 1991, a stop in Crested Butte, CO led to a two-year job at The Alpineer, one of the original Mountain Bike shops of the late 70’s.
An annual pilgrimage back East to the Tsali trails led Kent to the Nantahala Outdoor Center, where he took a job working in the “original” store and tasked with creating a real “Bike Shop” in NOC’s new outfitter’s store that was built in 1994. In 1995, he accepted a job with Litespeed Bicycles in Ooltewah, TN and worked as Marketing Director for two years. The job took him all over the US and Europe to attend shows and events helping to grow this small company. It was a dream job getting to rub elbows with all the cycling greats and seeing so many of the legendary cycling destinations.
The mountains of NC have a strong draw and in 1997, Kent came back to NOC to continue growing NOC’s biking program and interest in cycling in Western NC.
In 1999, Kent had tired of the tourism retail trade and decided to pursue his newest love in computers. After two years in that industry, with the “dot-com bust” looming, Kent saw a listing for the Territory Manager position with Specialized Bicycles covering the Southern Appalachian region, home of the greatest cycling anywhere and where he happened to live.
Over the next five years, Kent enjoyed his 1000-mile weeks on the road and spending half the weekends of the year at events representing Specialized. His 2005 marriage to Sarah and impending birth of their daughter, Beverly, in 2006, sent Kent into the booming real estate industry to stay home with his new family. This job allowed him to spend a lot of time in Sylva and Jackson County, re-kindling his belief in what a great cycling region WNC is. Little did he know that Dave asking him to come look at Motion Makers would save him from another Bust!
In 2009, the opportunity to open a second store 45 minutes away in the cycling mecca of Asheville, NC, could not be ignored. Kent had frequently asked his sales reps why there was only one large bicycle store in the booming town. One of those reps was Ben Hinker, who also wondered why someone hadn’t opened a big store in Asheville. He immediately signed on as Manager of the store as soon as he learned of Kent’s plan and was involved from the early stages of deciding where to put this new store. Another key person, Sara Jarrell, a Cullowhee native, had moved back home to WNC from California a couple of years earlier. She had quickly become a trusted source of knowledge at the Sylva store but had been making the commute from Asheville to Sylva to work. This gave her plenty of reason to help make this new store a place that people could trust with her skills as Service Manager.
Calling on the design expertise of the Specialized Retail Services team, the Motion Makers crew signed on to become an Elite Store with Specialized. This allowed for a quick opening in March of 2010 with a very clean and professional look that the team knew they wanted for Asheville while allowing it to remain a locally owned store, not just a factory footprint. The store is one of the largest in the region and has, we believe, the best selection of bikes and equipment so you can always find what you need.
Explore the amazing work of nature on the “inside” of a mountain. North Carolina’s only show caverns features stalactite and stalagmite formations, an underground stream with native trout, hibernating bats, amazing mineral colors, the Bottomless Pool, and total darkness. The guided tour educates you on caverns ecosystems, geological history, and local history of the area. Gift shop located on premises.
Activewear retailer offering clothing, shoes & gear for cycling, running & triathlons.
Up-Close Outfitters, LLC specializes in 1/2 and full-day guided fishing trips to some of the top bass and trout waters in the North Carolina and South Carolina area. Our fishing guide service has chosen the foremost lakes in the region, such as lake Hartwell fishing for huge striped bass, lake Jocassee fishing for record-breaking trout and lake Fontana fishing for some of the best walleye and smallmouth bass action the Southeast has to offer. Our team of professional full time fishing guides specializes in finding those giant brown trout and largemouth bass we have all been fishing for over the years. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains outside of Asheville NC, we are centralized to travel to South Carolina and western North Carolina. Up-Close Outfitters also takes pride in the art of fly fishing in the Blue Ridge , Appalachian , & Great Smoky mountains of North Carolina for wild brook trout and stubborn rainbows.
Offering visitors easy access to its towering peaks, Grandfather Mountain is one of the most biologically diverse mountains and in the world designated by the United Nations as an International Biosphere Reserve. Feel the rush when you cross the Swinging Bridge; marvel at 360-degree views from one-mile above sea level; photograph bears, otters, cougars, eagles and deer in natural habitats; hike rugged back-country trails or stroll gentle nature paths; eat in our restaurant or take your order out to one of many scenic picnic areas; chat with our entertaining, knowledgeable staff and let us help you find your own perfect mountain adventure.
A carefully tended wilderness preserve, Grandfather Mountain is home to many rare North American wildflowers and to displays of such naturalized plants as native azaleas, rhododendrons, mosses and lichens, heathers, and other beautiful species. Parts of the mountain are steep and rocky, but much is accessible to anyone: an excellent nature center, dramatic mountain vistas, and wildlife habitat areas.
Swing into a round of golf on the legendary 18-hole course at The Omni Grove Park Inn. The 6,400-yard championship course has been played by PGA stars Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus and even President Obama. Feel a sense of pride and accomplishment after navigating the tree-lined fairways and bent greens with amazing views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Elevated tee boxes on the par-70 course provide perfect sight lines for each drive.
If you’re wondering what to do around Asheville, NC, look no further than Asheville Adventure Company to get the insider “local” experience. We are long time Asheville residents and we are passionate about showing people what we love about Asheville and the surrounding area.
For too long the guiding industry has been ruled by a collective of companies that build their business by charging crazy money to take customers to the most popular spots around. We want to change the game. We strive to offer the same level of service (or better!) as our most prolific competitors but opt instead to build meticulously planned trips that are as unique as the many visitors that flock to this area. We hope that every trip leaves customers with a sense of awe and wonder for this incredible area. We want to push our customers outside of the tech and stimulus heavy world that we live in to a place where they can explore and push their own boundaries as far as they feel comfortable. We hire only the best guides, and we refuse to offer a trip unless we think it’s awesome (as a group of adventure nuts we have a pretty high standards).
We currently offer a selection of day hiking trips, e bike trips, overnight backpacking trips, and paddling trips. We are also always open to crafting private trips. If you have a trip that you have been dreaming up but need some help getting it across the finish line then contact us and we will help you plan something amazing!
Join Brookside Guides’ experienced and professional guides for the fly fishing adventure of a lifetime in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina.
Our WNC trout waters are filled with lively rainbows, browns and brook trout. Fish with our fly fishing guides from Pisgah National Forest to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Beginning anglers can sign up for a day or weekend of fly fishing instruction and guided fishing with our skilled, patient and fun guides.
More advanced anglers can choose from the over 4,000 miles of freestone mountain trout water located within easy reach of our home base in Asheville, NC. The Davidson River, one of the most exciting and challenging rivers in our area, is listed in Trout Unlimited’s “Top 100 Trout Streams.”
Western North Carolina’s temperate climate makes this a great destination for fly fishing 365 days a year. Spring and fall offer the best hatches while in winter months anglers often find they have rivers to themselves as they search for trophy trout.
No matter what the season, you’ll have your choice of fishing on wild trout waters filled with big, wary browns or hiking to streams in the beautiful Smoky Mountains that hold the prize catch, native Appalachian brook trout.
Choose a true wilderness adventure and experience an unforgettable overnight back packing/fly fishing trip! Combine fly fishing and camping for a fun-filled family vacation.
Be sure to check out the Brookside Guides’ Women’s Fly Fishing School.
The larger rivers of Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee are some of the best fly fishing destinations in the Southeast. Beginning anglers will enjoy learning fly fishing and fly casting techniques during our guided fly fishing float trips as our fly fishing guides will position them in the best spots to catch fish and teach the techniques needed to be successful. More advanced anglers will appreciate the ability to access more river mileage leading to the most opportunities to target the best spots of the river. Many anglers will also use our float trips to get an early start on their season and tune their techniques locally prior to traveling to fish Western rivers in the summer months.
Our Guided Fly Fishing Float Trips are the best fit if you’d prefer to access several miles of water and spend most of your day practicing your fly fishing and fly casting skills, all from the comfort of a boat.
