Grandfather Mountain

The mountain reaches 1,818 metres and takes its name from a profile in the ridgeline read as an old man's face. The Mile High Swinging Bridge, built in 1952 and rebuilt in steel in 1999, crosses an eighty-metre chasm at 1,600 metres and moves in wind, which is frequent - the summit recorded gusts over 320 km/h in 2018. The Linn Cove Viaduct below, an S-curve of precast concrete segments completed in 1987, was the last section of the Blue Ridge Parkway finished, built that way to avoid cutting into the slope. The mountain is an International Biosphere Reserve with sixteen distinct ecological communities and rare species. A wildlife habitat holds non-releasable bears, otters and cougars.

What you actually see

• The Mile High Swinging Bridge - crossing an eighty-metre chasm.
• The Linn Cove Viaduct - the last piece of the Parkway, finished 1987.
• Sixteen ecological communities - on one mountain, a biosphere reserve.
• A wildlife habitat - non-releasable native animals.

When to go

April to October; colour in October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The bridge closes in high wind and lightning, which happens often. It is a paid private attraction; the adjoining state park trails are separate and free. Autumn weekends jam the access road. The summit is much colder than the base.

Nearby

The Blue Ridge Parkway runs below; Linville Falls is south.