Safety, Lodging, and Family Activities

Hi,

We%26#39;re going to Asheville in November with our 10 year old boys. Looking for some family friendly things to do. We enjoy hiking and exploring. Chimney Rock looks fun for the boys. What about the Biltmore? Should we take the tour or will the boys get bored?

We rented a cabin that states it is within walking distance to the nature center and arts center.

Is this a safe area? Would we do better on the outskirts of Asheville?

Any advice is appreciated?

Thanks!

Safety, Lodging, and Family Activities

My daughter liked the Biltmore House when she was 10. If you go rent the head sets. Not sure if I would have enjoyed the Biltmore House when I was 10 or not. If you are not from the area or relatively close, I would go anyway.

Plenty of places to walk and hike. We normally pick hikes to waterfalls/

I am not sure of your cabin%26#39;s location but I have never felt threatened in anyplace I have been in Asheville.

Safety, Lodging, and Family Activities

We have a 10 yr old and his grandmother has a season pass to the Biltmore but he never expresses much interest in going, though he does like driving around the grounds. I think they%26#39;d like Chimney Rock and maybe Grandfather Mtn.

Cabin w/in walking distance of WNC Nature Center and Folk Arts Center???? is that what you%26#39;re talking about? If this is the case, you are on the outskirts of Asheville already. Asheville is safe, I can only think of a few places I%26#39;d be concerned about and they wouldn%26#39;t have vacation rentals anywhere close by.

Dupont falls, Grandfather Mountain, a corn maze, a walk downtown (there are some neat places to eat and there is a climbing wall). You are close to Asheville%26#39;s Fun Depot which any 10 year old boy would like, but it%26#39;s pricey and most cities have something similar.

The train in Dillsboro if they are interested in that sort of thing.

We took our boys to Biltmore when they were 8, and then again when they were 10-12. They enjoyed it hugely both times.

We saw both Chimney Rock %26amp; Biltmore in August. We have a 9 year old daughter. She enjoyed Chimney Rock. It was quite hot that day, but you won%26#39;t have heat contend with in November. We did the Hickory Nut Falls Trail since it was shaded. It was pretty easy; the falls were nice, but not flowing too much because of the drought. You can hike all over the park. We didn%26#39;t take this option mainly because of the 100 degree heat, but I bet it would be great in the fall.

As for Biltmore, I think it depends on the child. Our daughter really didn%26#39;t enjoy it like the adults did. Once again, I think the heat played a factor. She is a very active child who prefers hikes, cave tours, anything that involves physical activity. In the summer, Biltmore had a special going on that allowed children under age 16 to enter free with a paying adult. This is a great option, as tickets are expensive. They are cheaper to buy them on-line, I believe. Have a great time!

Thanks everyone. I didn%26#39;t see everyones posts at first. I think we may do Biltmore after all. One of my boys is very impressed with large houses. (I tell him to do well in school and work hard and maybe he can have a big house too.) ; )

I know it is pricey but am told it is worth it. Time just gets so short on vacation and we never get to do everything that we want to do.

I saw that Chimney Rock has a taster special ($15) to climb the rocks. I believe this time of year it is limited to weekends. Has anyone done this? We may try this on Sunday if it is available.

That just leaves us with Monday and Tuesday. What do you recommend fitting in those two days? I guess one day would be the Biltmore.

Thanks!

Trip Report!

We had a great time. However, did not get to do as much as I would have liked too. We passed on the Biltmore. The boys would have gotten bored after a couple hours and at $165, we passed.

We hiked at Chimney Rock which was great. One of my sons (11) and I did the Taster where you rock climb up 90 ft and then repel down. We really enjoyed that. We hiked the two long trails with our dog.

We also went to Pisgah and saw Sliding Rock and the Looking Glass Falls, which was quite beautiful. We just explored the last day with my elderly mother who is a little limited with her mobility.

One night we went to the Grove Park Inn, which was beautiful. They had the exhibit of Gingerbread houses from the competition they hold there.

We will go back and spend more time.

Thanks!

glad you enjoyed youor visit. amd thanks for sharing with us here. sounds like yall made the most of the trip too!

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