Tour company that provides private and semi private hiking and kayaking tours by a certified Blue Ridge Parkway and Western North Carolina naturalist. We also have bike rentals.
Explore the estate via more than 20 miles of biking trails, access to which is free for all guests! Choose from our well-marked, single-track woodland dirt trails for a challenging ride, or our flat, paved trail along the French Broad River for a more leisurely ride. Bring your own bike or rent one from us. We offer two primary types of bikes: mountain bikes and hybrid bikes. Trail-a-Bikes (also called tag-alongs) and trailers are also available.
Biltmore’s Bike Barn, located on the second floor of Antler Hill Barn, is your one-stop location for all things biking. Please contact the Bike Barn directly with all rental inquiries. Rental bikes, trail-a-bikes, and trailers are available on a first-come, first-served basis. No advance reservations are offered or required. We recommend guests who bring their own bikes check in for a trail map and current trail conditions.
Bike Barn hours vary seasonally; please see Estate Hours for current hours. Bike Rentals availability is weather-dependent and are sold through the Bike Barn and Outdoor Adventure Center only.
Prices are in addition to estate daytime admission, Biltmore Annual Pass, or overnight stay that includes estate daytime admission, and are subject to change and applicable tax. Passholders enjoy a 10% discount for themselves and one additional guest. Military and overnight guests enjoy a 10% discount. Reservations are not available or required, with the exception of guided group bike rides. Please visit the Bike Barn on the day of your visit for bike rentals. Bike rental availability is weather-dependent. Helmets are required.
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.
Explore Western North Carolina’s great outdoors with Nantahala Outdoor Center. The nation’s largest outdoor recreation company, NOC has led outdoor adventures since 1972 and earned recognition as “One of the Best Outfitters on Earth” by National Geographic Adventure. Over a million guests visit NOC annually to embark on a diverse collection of more than 120 different river and land-based itineraries! Learn to kayak at NOC’s world-renowned Paddling School, or test the latest outdoor gear and shop at retail stores in Asheville, Gatlinburg, and Nantahala. Book a trip on one of seven rivers in the Southeast, or fly through the skies on the Nantahala Mountaintop Zip Line Adventure!
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!
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.
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.
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!
I am a lifelong cyclist, enjoying the aspects of both road and mountain bike culture. My entire adult life has been in bicycle retail. Beginning my career in 1974, I began as a bicycle mechanic, moved on to manage a high end shop, then opened and operated my own pro shop for over 25 years. Throughout this period I never lost interest in the mechanical development of cycling: I very much enjoy building wheels, complete frame builds, and restoring both mountain and road bikes.
BikeWorks in Sylvania, Ohio was my life for the past 28 years. The shop expanded and changed with the times from a small retail space to a larger location that made space for custom bike and fit studio, establishing BikeWorks as northwest Ohio’s premier bike shop.
Through the decades, I was witness to the monumental advancements in cycling technology that have revolutionized bikes and the way people ride them: new frame materials, electronic shifters, disc brakes, and carbon fiber advancements to name a few.
Through these same decades, I was at the forefront of fit training and technology: FitKit, Pro Bike Fit, Trek School of Fitting, Paul Swift and since 2009, 3D Motion Capture by Retul. It is with the advancement of fit technology that my career has taken shape from a retail store owner to a custom bike and fit expert.
Having the knowledge, expertise and tools to connect a customer to a one of a kind custom bike has been the most satisfying aspect of my years in the bicycle world.
My collection of personal bikes ranges from restored vintage race bikes to cutting edge road and mountain bikes, custom road, mountain and randonneur bikes and tandems. My enthusiasm as a cyclist, collector and purveyor of fine cycling products has only grown over the years and continues to fuel my passion as a business owner. It is with great excitement that I bring my experience to Asheville, North Carolina as Tangent Cycles.
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.
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.
We love the hip vibe, down-to-earth people and breathtaking scenery of Asheville! Our full-service bike shop provides the ultimate cycling experience with an Asheville feel. MustAsheville offers bike rentals and carries new and preowned, high-quality bikes and all of the gear you need to make every ride awesome. Our dog-friendly bike store offers products to help rescue dogs in need. We are part of Rags To Royals Bulldog Rescue.
Meet the man behind MustAsheville. Jeff is a bike matchmaker extraordinaire who pairs each person with the best bike for a fun and long-lasting relationship. His love began at the young age of 13 during his first triathlon. Jeff quickly became passionate about road, cyclocross and mountain competitions. Now, he rides for enjoyment and to maintain his sanity. Jeff’s dream is for all of his clients to become hooked on bikes too.
Whether you’re a first-timer or an experienced horseman, enjoy an unforgettable guided expedition through beautiful woodlands on a horse chosen to match your skill level. Call for details and reservations. Enjoy a western-style guided ride on a horse chosen to match your skill level. Travel with fellow guests along beautiful trails through the woodlands and meadows of the estate.
Art Connections Tours are designed to connect art lovers and collectors with the makers in the most authentic way: one on one, in the places where they do their work in scenic western North Carolina. After 25 years of working alongside hundreds of artists as a gallery manager and buyer, Sherry Masters shares her many connections and invites participants to go with her inside the studios of leading and emerging artists in a range of media from paintings, glass, clay, fiber, metals, wood and more.
Join one of the ‘Scheduled Tours’ on select Mondays and Fridays from May – October to see a great variety of local studios; or Sherry will curate and plan the tour based on your interests and input. With her vast network of area artists Sherry strives to match your interests with the studio visits to make the trip memorable and educational.