The Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina provide some of the most stunning sightseeing in the country. The area is dotted with quaint, quirky and beautiful mountain towns that make great weekend trips and one of my favorites is Blowing Rock.

Blowing Rock offers several things: A quaint downtown, a quirky roadside attraction, a cool mansion seen in “The Green Mile” and fun places to eat.

First, let’s discuss the natural attraction that gives the city its name.

The Blowing Rock

The Blowing Rock is a wave-shaped cliff that hangs over Johns River Gorge. It is known as the Blowing Rock because, on certain days, lightweight items such as leaves or blades of grass thrown over the edge at 4,000 feet above sea level will blow back to the person who threw them via strong wind currents. Because of this, Ripley’s Believe It or Not dubbed it: “The only place in the world where snow falls upside down.”

The Blowing Rock website says: “The phenomenon is so called because the rocky walls of the gorge form a flume through which the northwest wind sweeps with such force that it returns light objects cast over the void.”

To access the attraction, guests park at a quaint stone visitors center and gift shop just a short distance from a major highway. The rock was just outside the back door of the center.

The site also includes a short nature trail that leads to another small cottage filled with historical photos, signs and advertisements from The Blowing Rock, and then to an observation deck with majestic Grandfather Mountain visible across the gorge.

Visitors can actually climb out on the rocks and have their photos made 3,000 feet above the gorge.

The legend

What kind of attraction would it be if it didn’t have a legend? Here is an excerpt of the legend from TheBlowingRock.com:

“One day [a Chickasaw] maiden, daydreaming on the craggy cliff, spied a Cherokee brave wandering in the wilderness far below and playfully shot an arrow in his direction. The flirtation worked because soon he appeared before her wigwam, courted her with songs of his land and they became lovers … One day a strange reddening of the sky brought the brave and the maiden to The Blowing Rock. To him it was a sign of trouble commanding his return to his tribe in the plains. With the maiden’s entreaties not to leave her, the brave, torn by conflict of duty and heart, leaped from The Rock into the wilderness far below. The grief-stricken maiden prayed daily to the Great Spirit until one evening with a reddening sky, a gust of wind blew her lover back onto The Rock and into her arms. From that day a perpetual wind has blown up onto The Rock from the valley below.”

Downtown Blowing Rock

After seeing The Blowing Rock, be sure to check out the quaint downtown area. Blowing Rock had beautiful, well-kept public gardens and parks and looked like something from a postcard.

The small town of about 1,200 people has numerous cute shops and eateries, such as the Six Pence Restaurant, an English pub.

Shops sell souvenirs, pottery, jewelry and, of course, the requisite hiking gear. One shop, Sunset Tees and Hattery, had an incredible selection of hats, both men’s and women’s, including top hats and bowlers.

Blowing Rock also had a Kilwin’s, a shop that sells yummy homemade chocolates and ice cream that is popular in mountain towns.

Lodging

Blowing Rock has several options for overnight stays. Find a listing of them here, or check out Hotels.com and Booking.com for hotels. You can find short-term rentals in the area at Vrbo.com.

If you plan to camp, you can find RV parks here and check out rentals on RVshare.com.

Moses Cone Manor

If you love Victorian homes, check out the Moses Cone Manor, also known as Flat Top Manor. This gorgeous historic, 13,000-square-foot mansion is a historic home museum, an arts and crafts boutique and a gorgeous hiking and nature preserve, all in one.

The home was used in filming the movie “The Green Mile,” acting as the Georgia Pines nursing home show in the movie.

Located at Mile Marker 294 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, the estate’s 3,500 acres are a park with horse-riding and walking trails.

The crafts gallery and shops, called Parkway Crafts Center, take up the entire lower floor with an incredible array of items for sale, with one room acting as a visitor center and gift shop selling books about the home, as well as souvenirs. The center not only supports local crafters but helps fund maintenance for the home, which is in need of repair.

Find more information here.