North Carolina is an incredible state to live in. It has some of the top colleges in America, a large banking city, beaches, and mountains. I have talked a lot about the hikes out west and neglected to talk about the beautiful North Carolina mountains. Although I go to school in a mountain town, I prefer to travel outside of Boone to hike. However, Boone has many great places to see. Some of the best hikes in near Boone include: The Profile Trail, Rough Ridge Overlook Trail, Flat Top Tower, and Bass Lake Loop. When researching hiking trails near Boone online a vast amount come up. However, most of the trails that appear under the search are actually 2-3 hours outside of Boone. Flat Top Tower is very popular with Appalachian State students. It is an amazing place to watch the sunrise because it is a full 360 view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. After a long hike, one of the best places to eat is Woodlands BBQ. It is a little outside of Boone past Blowing Rock. Blowing Rock has a great Ice cream shop and there are other places to eat, like Mellow Mushroom, if you don't want BBQ. My favorite hikes in North Carolina are Table Rock Mountain, Looking Glass Rock, and Hawksbill Mountain. I highly recommend all three of them. Table Rock Mountain and Looking Glass Rock normally take the entire day, but Hawksbill is very short. The best time to hike Looking Glass would be in the fall. I have camped on Table Rock Mountain Trail, but it's not the place to camp unless you have light gear. The best place to camp is at the very top so I wouldn't recommend trying to carry and large family size tent all the way up. The sunset at the top is a must see even if you do not plan to camp. Pack multiple flashlights and hike up into the sunset. Walmart has a 3$ headlamp that surprisingly works really well. Check the weather to make sure it isn't going to be a cloudy night. I have made the mistakes of not checking too many times. It's frustrating to hike up for a sunset, but not be able to see it because of the clouds. If you go early in the day stop by Hawksbill on the way back. If you plan to go to Asheville don't miss the Breweries. Wicked Weed and Sierra Nevada are both in the area. Wicked Weed is downtown so you can go shopping around. Sierra Nevada is on its own plantation. It has a fire pit out back and great food. Sierra Nevada is a great Brewery to visit after a hike because you can sit by the fire pit, eat, and go on a tour. You can sign up for a full tour or you can do a self-guided one. There's nothing like sitting back by a fire with a good beer after a long day of hiking. Asheville is a great place to relax with a beer after an adventure.
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