Start from 28 curated places around Boone, NC, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
The TAPP Room
A casual craft-beer bar and grill near the Appalachian State campus, with a dozen rotating taps of domestic, import, and craft beer alongside a crowd-pleasing menu of burgers, wings, tacos, and fish and chips. Darts, billiards, and a pet-friendly patio make it an easygoing spot to land after a day in the mountains, and locals rate it among the best bar food in Boone.
Gamekeeper Restaurant
Housed in a renovated 1920s stone cottage on Shulls Mill Road between Boone and Blowing Rock, Gamekeeper has built a decades-long reputation for wild-game and foraged mountain cuisine, with elk, bison, venison, and rabbit among the rotating preparations. The AAA Four Diamond dining room pairs the kitchen with a serious wine and cocktail program in an intimate log-and-stone setting.
Trails & outdoors
Elk Knob Summit Trail
A quieter High Country classic: a roughly 3.8-mile out-and-back to the 5,520-foot summit of Elk Knob with about 1,000 feet of gain. AllTrails rates it 4.8 stars from thousands of reviews, and the summit views, including Grandfather Mountain filling the southern horizon, rival anything on the Blue Ridge Parkway without the crowds.
Beacon Heights Trail
A short 0.6-mile walk from the Blue Ridge Parkway at Milepost 305.5 to a quartzite rock overlook with sweeping views across Grandfather Mountain and the High Country. With only about 150 feet of gain, it is the most accessible Blue Ridge summit view in the Boone area and one of the most beloved.
Things to do
Appalachian Theatre of the High Country
A beautifully restored 1938 Art Deco theater at the center of King Street, hosting nationally touring musicians, film screenings, comedy, and theatrical productions. The renovation completed in 2019 kept the original exterior while transforming the interior into a proper mid-size performance hall.
Jones House Cultural Center
A historic house turned community arts center on King Street that anchors Boone's summer concert scene. The free Friday-evening Summer Concerts series (June through August) draws regional bluegrass, old-time, jazz, and folk acts to the front lawn, and the indoor galleries showcase local artists year-round.
Landmarks & sights
Hickory Ridge Living History Museum
A cluster of authentic 18th-century log cabins in Daniel Boone Park, staffed by costumed interpreters who demonstrate blacksmithing, weaving, open-hearth cooking, and other mountain homestead crafts. Run by the Southern Appalachian Historical Association, the same grounds host the Horn in the West outdoor drama each summer.
Grandfather Mountain State Park
One of the highest peaks in the Blue Ridge at 5,946 feet, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve crowned by the famous mile-high swinging bridge. The private attraction side off US-221 holds the bridge, nature museum, and animal habitats, while the surrounding state park protects the rugged backcountry hiking along the summit ridge. The mountain reopened after Hurricane Helene with only minor damage.