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A North Carolina state park near Linville

Grandfather Mountain is the highest peak in the Blue Ridge mountain range and is considered the most biologically diverse mountain in the East. After a climb to the top in the 1890's, John Muir, the father of America's national parks, wrote that he "began to jump about and sing and glory in it all."

Today visitors can actually drive to the summit and, along the way, enjoy spectacular scenery, endless vistas and intriguing rock formations. Then, when you reach one mile in elevation, you can walk across the highest swinging footbridge in America!

You are invited to scroll down our opening page and through a table of contents that will allow you to explore the amazing diversity of life at Grandfather Mountain.

The Mile High Swinging Bridge

Former North Carolina Tourism Director Charles J. Parker was the first to coin the name "Mile High Swinging Bridge." The term "mile high" refers to the structure's elevation above sea level (5,305 feet), and the term "swinging," explains itself.

The bridge was dedicated on September 2, 1952 by Governor William B. Umstead. Various celebrations of its anniversaries have featured addressed by U.S. Senator Sam J. Ervin and CBS Newsman Charles Kuralt.

Designed to withstand a load of three million pounds, early visitors who did not know the span's capacity would wait to cross until there were as few as two persons on the bridge. The response to the visitors' concern was to post a sign which assigns a load limit of 40 persons, figuring that 40 people would likely be the greatest number that would be on the Bridge at one time.

It is estimated that as many as seven million visitors made the journey across the Mile High Swinging Bridge since it first opened in 1952. Surveys show that 92 percent of Grandfather Mountain visitors do cross the swaying span.

Have you ever found yourself only a few feet away from a big black bear? At Grandfather Mountain you will!

Grandfather has seven environmental habitats for black bears, bear cubs, panthers, bald eagles, golden eagles, white-tailed deer, and, new in mid-August 1996, river otters.

Paved viewing areas give visitors an up-close perspective of the animals as they live in the wild. Separated from the animals by moats or elevated above the habitats on large retaining walls, these viewing areas allow you to stand only a few feet away from animals you may never see in your own back yard!

Our new river otter habitat opened in August of 1996. A special aquarium-like viewing area allows you to enjoy watching the playful otters above or below the water.