5 Unique Experiences for Families in Blue Ridge
Visitors flock to Blue Ridge for the mountain ambiance, outdoors activities, the great shopping, art and the delicious dining experiences. But Blue Ridge offers many unique adventures. Here are five places to visit if unique and unusual are part of your family vacation.
1. Unique Accommodations
Not only do the North Georgia Mountains offer spectacular views, rushing streams and waterfalls, but a dense canopy as well. There’s nothing quite like sleeping among the trees with nothing but greenery outside your window.
That’s what the Blue Ridge TreeHouse offers, an actual treehouse with live trees growing in its center! The treehouse was built by Chris “Ka-V” Haake and James “B’fer” Roth, the stars of the DIY Network TV Show, “The Treehouse Guys.” Everything is off the ground, with the kitchen and seating area on the treehouse’s first floor—if you can call it that—to the bedroom at the top of the miniature stairs. The couch pulls out for a queen bed so four may sleep inside.
It’s a bit of a squeeze but a delightful one, and don’t think it’s primitive. The Blue Ridge TreeHouse comes with Wifi, TV, air and heat, an outdoors grill and fire pit and a stacked kitchen. Plus, there’s wine! Within a short walk and over a creek is Bear Claw Vineyards & Winery, owners of the treehouse. Taste their wines in the tasting room while listening to live music and enjoy a bottle on their back porch.
And that’s just one of the treehouses for rent in Blue Ridge. For a list of treehouse rentals, click here.
For a more rounded experience, Escape to Blue Ridge property rental company offers Aska Round (say that out loud to fully appreciate the pun). This literally round cabin is located off Aska Road and nestled in the woods so a night here feels like being hugged by the Blue Ridge woods. The cabin offers three bedrooms, two seating areas, a full stocked kitchen and a hot tub but don’t miss listening to birdsongs on the porch’s rocking chairs or watching fireflies flitting by while sitting ‘round the fire pit.
2. Take in a Drive-In-Movie
Use your car to travel back in time at the Swan Drive-in Theatre where first-run and boutique films are shown on a regular basis. The theatre was built in 1955 at the height of drive-in movies but visitors today will enjoy much the same experience — driving up to a secure spot, watching the film on a giant screen from your car, tailgate or portable chairs and dining on fun food items from the diner, everything from wings and cheeseburgers to funnel cakes and popcorn. You can even have a car-hop deliver snacks right to your car!
The drive-in got its name from the original owner, who was stationed in England before participating in the Normandy Invasion in France. He admired the swans on England’s lakes and ponds and found it a peaceful moniker.
The Swan Drive-in remains only one of four drive-in theatres left in Georgia. Check out this blog on the best way to experience the drive-in.
3. Ride the Rails
Blue Ridge is home to the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway, an historic train that transports visitors to and from the neighboring town of McCaysville. Passengers may enjoy an indoor, open or premier passenger car as they relish the 26 miles of Appalachian mountain views parallel to the Toccoa River. The Blue Ridge Scenic Railway offers two travel packages: two- and four-hour rides up and back to McCaysville.
But there’s more! For those who wish to really ride the rails, the Railway offers railbikes, open-air rail contraptions that sit four, one of whom operates the throttle. Yes, you can pedal to your heart’s content but the bikes are power operated allowing visitors to either work up a sweat, if they prefer, or just coast along the rails. (You can imagine which one we chose.)
The two-hour railbike trip heads southbound and downhill (don’t worry, the train heads north), passing farms and lovely homes and across the Benton MacKaye hiking trail. The ride’s a bit rocky, but that’s part of the fun, and the forward motion provides a nice breeze on even the hottest days. At about six miles down the tracks, visitors can rest, enjoy cold water and a restroom while the guides turn the bikes around. Then it’s six miles back to town, this time uphill. Just remember, it’s power operated.
4. Hike the Appalachian Trail
The famous 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail (AT), which stretches from its 80 miles in Georgia all the way to Maine, begins at Springer Mountain, a short drive from Blue Ridge in the southern portion of Fannin County. Visitors may park and hike almost a mile to reach the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail—and even hike on to the trail whether for the long haul (called an Appalachian Trail “through hike”) or just to snag a selfie by the marker. Visitors can hike the AT by visiting Long Creek Falls.
The Appalachian Trail was first proposed by conservationist Benton MacKaye, considered the “father” of the trail, but the Appalachian Trail later developed under other leadership and government assistance with the Civilian Conservation Corps. Visitors can learn more about the trail’s history at Amiacolola Falls State Park’s welcome center, about 45 minutes south of Blue Ridge and where the AT Approach Trail is located.
Today, MacKaye is honored with his own trail, which also begins at Springer Mountain and parallels the AT for a few miles. The Benton MacKaye Trail (BMT) runs through the Blue Ridge area and heads northwest and over into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park for 292 miles.
Visitors may experience the BMT at various places around Blue Ridge, such as the short hike to Falls Branch Falls, the site of a dramatic 30-foot waterfall, or the leisurely hike to the 270-foot-long swinging bridge over the roaring Toccoa River. The latter requires a three-mile drive on a bumpy road but the end result is worth it. Both bikers and hikers may prefer the multi-mile Aska Adventure Trail Area a few miles south of downtown Blue Ridge.
If all this hiking makes you sweaty, there are numerous outfitters to get you on the Toccoa River with activities including tubing, kayaking and group floats.
5. Discover Sasquatch
Do you doubt the existence of Big Foot? Stands to reason that with all the technology and military shouldn’t we have discovered one already? But the Expedition: Bigfoot, the Sasquatch Museum with its innovative exhibits, educational films and recordings of both witness testimonies and eerie growls and whistles from the woods might convince even the toughest sceptics. Or at least have you wondering.
The museum contains casts of footprints and hands, details of expeditions undertaken to find the hairy beasts, examples of Native American myths detailing such creatures and a research library. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily year-round and is located just south of Blue Ridge on Hwy. 515.
