Asheville, NC

// August 17th, 2009 // Charleston Road Trips

Just 3.5 short hours from the Charleston area, Asheville is the perfect yin to Charleston’s yang. While Charleston is flip flops and Bermuda shorts, Asheville is Birkenstocks and bike shorts. Oh yeah, Asheville has plenty of 6,000+ peaks to explore.

Head to Bent Creek-Bent Creek Experimental Forest encompasses nearly 6,000 acres within the Pisgah National Forest just 15 minutes outside of Asheville. Bring your mountain bike and tackle Green’s Lick. With 2.5 miles of advanced single-track that drops 800 ft. in a constant barrage of high berms, rolling whoop-dedos, and big jumps, Green’s Lick is a local favorite. For a nice run check out the Wolf Branch and Ledford Loop trails.

Explore the Blue Ridge Parkway-The Parkway stretches almost 500 miles along the Blue Ridge Mountains through North Carolina and Virginia. We recommend bringing your road bike and heading to the Looking Glass Overlook. You’ll pass several impressive overlooks, pedal through a handful of tunnels, and cap off the ride with a view of Looking Glass Rock, a towering dome of granite deep in Pisgah National Forest. If you want to check things out by foot, the Mountains to Sea Trail and the Sam Knob Summit Trail will treat you right.

Catch Some Whitewater-The Asheville area includes some world class rivers including the Nolichucky, Nantahala, French Broad and Green Rivers. We highly recommend getting on a river to experience some mountain adventure but we also recommend letting one of the local rafting companies take care of you. One of our favorites is the Nantahala Outdoor Center.

It’s About the Downtown-Aside from epic outdoor adventure, Asheville’s downtown scene is really what it’s all about. Spend some time downtown and catch a glimpse of the Friday night Drum Circle, numerous street corner musicians, and sample some local brew from the 7 local breweries. Be sure to check out RiverLink’s numerous river parks including the Wilma Dykeman RiverWay. Be on the lookout for a 2010 Brewery to Brewery Race Series.

Info: The Asheville Adventure Guide / 828-230-4510 / www.advguides.com/asheville/adventures/