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!
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.
The Bike Farm is here to provide you with the best mountain biking experience western North Carolina has to offer. We provide half, full, and multi day guided rides custom tailored to an individual or groups abilities, desires, time, and budget. All trips are private, so you will never be put with another group. We are permitted in Pisgah National Forest and DuPont State Recreation Forest.
We cater to all ability levels, from beginner to Pro riders. Our staff includes female and male guides, all of which are Wilderness First Aid and CPR certified. When riding in a new area, the only way to ride like a local is to ride with a local!
Reems Creek. Golf how it was meant to be.
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.
EDUCATIONAL, IMMERSIVE, HANDS-ON GUIDED FLY FISHING TRIPS:
Booking a trip through us ensures that you will get the necessary tools and tricks for success when fishing your local or dream waters. Our trips provide all the gear you may need, as well as a handful of custom flies free of charge!
Discover Fly Fishing in Western North Carolina
Our trips help our customers discover the gorgeous waters of western North Carolina. With trips focused heavily on education and sustainability, customers will be guided on a wide variety of public waters in which they can expect to catch wild or stocked trout. Whether just getting into this historic art, or trying to crack the frustrating challenges of fly fishing, we will give you all you need to become a more confident fly fisherman!
The rate for trips is 35$ per hour – The length of the trip all depends on how long you want to be on the water!
Retail chain carrying gear, apparel & footwear for a wide range of outdoor & fitness activities.
Wai Mauna Asheville SUP Tours offers guided paddleboard tours and self-guided rentals on Asheville’s French Broad River. Enjoy a four mile paddle through Asheville’s River Arts District, a seven mile paddle through the Biltmore Estate, or join in a morning SUP yoga session for an invigorating start to the day. All of the boards are wide and stable and custom tailored for beginners, and you’ll not only learn how to paddleboard from professionally-trained instructors, but you’ll also learn about Asheville’s history as seen from the French Broad River. Portions of proceeds are donated to RiverLink—a local non-profit that’s working to restore the historic French Broad watershed. Guided tours runs four times per day, and for an early-morning Asheville adventure unlike any other in town, enjoy a sunrise “dawn patrol” paddle, beginning at 5:30am.
Asheville Treetops Adventure Park, an exciting Asheville attraction, is an aerial challenge course in the trees that has over 77 unique climbing, rolling, walking, jumping, swinging, and rappelling challenges anchored to over 30 trees and towering poles tucked into a wooded park. There are 7 different adventure trails ranging from beginner to challenging level that allow Park Guests the choice to challenge only the obstacles they feel comfortable with. There are several elements that are representative of the activities you can do in North Carolina including a sky kayak, a parkway tunnel, a snowboard in the sky, swinging hula hoops, bumper boats and a zip hang glider, all in the trees that make this a “Truly Asheville Adventure.”
We use a new technology called “smart belays” that, when used properly, are designed to assure Park Guests are attached to safety systems at all times and cannot detach from the system until they have completed the aerial trail and are back on the ground. Guests can explore freely knowing the safety system monitors their attachments and is designed to not allow accidental unclipping from the safety points. It is an active adventure that incorporates physical fitness and personal accomplishment.
Whitewater rafting, zipline canopy tours, calm water float trips – we’ve got it all! Raft & Zipline with us & experience two of Asheville’s natural wonders; the French Broad River & the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains. Best of all, with French Broad Adventures you don’t have to choose between ziplining & rafting. We are the only raft / zip combo close enough to Asheville that you can have fun with us and make it back to town in time for dinner. Take advantage of our vacation packages & save on all the thrills, chills, & occasional spills into the water! Book both activities together and save.
Randall Glen is a hundred-acre farm with its own mountainside, creeks, and wildflower meadows. Here you can experience the simple Smoky Mountain lifestyle that Southern Highlanders have known for hundreds of years. You can celebrate an unforgettable North Carolina mountain vacation. You can also just plain have fun. Spend your day with the animals at our interactive farm, mining for gems and gold in our creek-side sluice, or hop on a horse and enjoy the mountain views from a whole new perspective. For extra adventure and a truly memorable mountain experience, we offer deluxe overnight trail rides.
The North Carolina Arboretum’s 434-acre campus is nestled off the Blue Ridge Parkway minutes from downtown Asheville and offers beautiful gardens and natural areas, including the Bonsai Exhibition Garden, 10 miles of forested hiking and biking trails, garden tours, nature activities for families, changing science, art and cultural history exhibits, an on-site bistro and gift shop.
Daytime admission into the Arboretum is free; however, a $16 parking fee applies for personal vehicles. To view full listing of parking fees and hours, click here.
Brown Trout Fly Fishing LLC is The Only ORVIS Endorsed Fly Fishing Guide Service in Asheville, North Carolina. We Specialize in Guiding and Teaching Fly Fishing for Trout and Smallmouth Bass in Western North Carolina and East Tennessee.