High Country Holiday Guide

High Country Holiday Guide

Celebrate the holidays and create lasting memories in the High Country with some of our favorite events and activities. You can choose a Christmas tree, enjoy the holiday lights, hit the ski slopes and much more! Check out some of our favorite events and activities happening this winter season.

Choose and Cut Christmas Trees

Choosing your own Christmas tree is a tradition that is still alive here in the High Country! Boone Area tree farms offer beautiful Fraser Fir trees, the nation's most prized Christmas tree. Click here for a list of the Top Choose & Cut Farms by category.

Choose & Cut Packages

Two holidays that are participating in Choose & Cut Packages include Holiday Inn Express Boone and The Horton Hotel.

Choose and Cut Packages are good at these participating farms:

• Clawsons Choose and Cut, opening Saturday, November 14th
• Panoramic Christmas Tree Farm, opening Saturday, November 21st
• Stone Mountain Farms, opening Friday November 20th
• Walker Farm, opening Thanksgiving Day

Holiday Light Displays

There are lots of places to enjoy the Christmas lights in the High Country! Check out a few of our favorites:

Festival of Lights at Chetola Resort, Blowing Rock

Thousands of holiday illuminations light up Chetola beginning Sunday, November 29th! Take a drive around Chetola Lake and enjoy glittering ice skaters, a colorful train, a nativity scene, and more!

12 Days of Christmas at Linville Land Harbor

Linville Land Harbor will be celebrating with a 12 Days of Christmas interactive lights display. Enjoy colorful lights, dancing polar bears, visits from Santa, and much more! This is a great event for all ages! Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus will be there every Friday and Saturday night.

Light up the Town, West Jefferson

The town of West Jefferson and the downtown businesses will be flipping the switch on thousands of lights Thanksgiving weekend! Take a stroll through the downtown area to see the displays!

Christmas Events

Oh, Christmas Tree at Mystery Hill

November 27th, 6:30pm-11pm
Mystery Hill will be hosting their first Christmas light show! As soon as dusk hits, join the gathering for hot chocolate and lighting up the property. Mystery Hill will have their lights running for everyone to come and see from November 27th until the first of the new year.

Saturdays with Santa at The Blowing Rock

November 28-29, December 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20 1-3PM
Enjoy a special visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus while you check out the clear winter views from North Carolina's oldest attraction, The Blowing Rock! Free admission for one child with an accompanying adult.

Boone Drive-Thru Christmas Parade

December 12th, 11AM-1PM
Parade floats and entertainers will be set up in the Watauga Community Recreation parking lot so you can enjoy the beauty and spirit of the holiday season from the comfort of your car!

Banner Elk Christmas Parade and Festival

Wednesday, December 23rd at 4pm
Enjoy photos with Santa, S'mores, games, activities and night sledding!

Outdoor Winter Activities

Skiing, Tubing and Skating

Appalachian Ski Mountain

App Ski Mountain features 12 slopes including 3 Terrain Parks. Open 7 days a week starting the Friday before Thanksgiving, App Ski Mountain is the perfect destination for family fun. You can also visit their refrigerated outdoor ice arena for ice skating. Their Bavarian-style base lodge includes a restaurant, ski shop and gift shop!

Beech Mountain Resort

Ski Beech is the highest ski area in the east at 5,506' peak elevation! Offering 15 slopes and seven chair lifts and a great variety of terrain for skiing and snowboarding. There's also a 7,000 square foot refrigerated outdoor ice skating rink on site, along with shopping, dining and Ski School!

Sugar Mountain Resort

Sugar Mountain Resort is North Carolina's largest ski and snowboard area with 20 slopes from beginner to expert! Also featuring a terrain park, 8 lifts, a tubing park and 100% snowmaking on 115 acres! There's ski and snowboard schools for all ages and abilities, rental shops, and two cafeterias.

Hawksnest

Hawksnest, conveniently located in Seven Devils, NC, is the largest snow tubing park in the southeast with 30 tubing lanes! The park also has conveyors to get you back to the top of the mountain. With a wide variety of terrain, the park offers fun for everyone.

Sledding Hill

Enjoy a maintained sledding hill at Beech Mountain, complete with snow-blowing! There's also nearby cafes for hot chocolate and coffee. You can even purchase a sled right across the road at Fred's General Mercantile! For more suggestions on great places for sledding.

Winter Hikes

The winter can be a great time to hike in the NC Mountains! Enjoy fresh air and endless views. A few of our favorite, well maintained trails for the winter season include:

• Elk Knob Summit Trail: 1.9 miles that tops out at 5,520' in elevation, making it one of the highest peaks of the Appalachians.
• Flat Top Mountain Trail at Moses Cone Park: This 6 mile trail winds up to a 50 foot fire tower that offers beautiful views of Boone and Blowing Rock.
• Stone Mountain Loop Trail: 4.5 miles offering a great array of natural features, including a scenic waterfall and a walk through a restored family homestead.

Horton Hotel Rooftop Lounge

Looking for a more relaxing outdoor activity? This boutique hotel in downtown Boone offers 360 views from the rooftop lounge. Enjoy a drink on the rooftop and get warm around fire spheres with cozy blankets!