Blue Ridge Skyline Parkway Drive

Valle Crucis is located high in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. North Carolina's only Rural Historic District, the community of Valle Crucis is easily accessible to its neighboring towns of Boone, Blowing Rock and Banner Elk, and to the Blue Ridge Parkway. The High Country Host operates the area Welcome Center in Boone and is a source of information on the larger area.

The major airports servicing this area, Greensboro and Charlotte, NC, are about 2 hours driving time (the smaller Tri-Cities in TN is about an hour away)..

There is a lot to fill your day while visiting Valle Crucis. You can start with a bike ride on Watauga River Road or, for a quieter pursuit, bird watching at the Valle Crucis Community Park, do some shopping at the Mast General Store (in operation since 1883), lunch at Creekside Deli in the General Store Annex, or hike to the Lower Crab Orchard waterfall at the Valle Crucis Conference Center (the old Episcopal Mission). Then enjoy some quiet time rocking on the porch or stolling in the gardens of The Mast Farm Inn. Stop in at their newly opened Espresso and Wine Bar downstairs in the historic farmhouse for a coffee or cold drink.

Several more shopping locations are waiting for you in Valle Crucis. Visit the newly opened Shoppes at the Farmhouse, across from the General Store. Home to 30 individual vendors, the Shoppes offer quality crafts such as Susan Muselli's Mountain Flower. Several stores call Valle Landing home, such as Valle Crucis Rustic Furnishings. And stop in at J & S Beaumont Pottery, conveniently located behind the Mast General Store in the historic Little Red Schoolhouse.

Alta Vista Gallery is Valle Crucis' own fine art gallery, one of several in the High Country. Proprietor Maria Hyde also offers lodging in her Bed & Breakfast above the gallery, located between the General Store and The Mast Farm Inn. Down Broadstone Road a little ways is artist Mark Read's Studio and Gallery. His works include a wide range of handwrought art and metalsmithing: fine jewelry, bronze and iron sculptures, and architectural structures. And travel up the scenic Mission By-way toward Banner Elk to find the Kevin Beck Studio, newly opened beside the Taylor House.

As you might expect, a wide range of lodging choices are availabile in Valle Crucis. The Mast Farm Inn is a full-service country inn, with a choice of farmhouse rooms or private getaway cottages. The Inn's restaurant, which serves dinner and is open to the public, features fresh, organic Contemporary Regional Cuisine. And recently opened is Aunt Josie's Espresso and Wine Bar, in the farmhouse of The Mast Farm Inn. Enjoy a glass of wine, a cappuccino, a cherry coke, or a cold beer in the bar or on the porch or terrace. Appetizers are available with drinks during dinner hours.

The Taylor House Inn, a Bed and Breakfast Inn, is around the corner on 194 toward Banner Elk. And in a pastoral setting by the Watauga River is the Baird House, a small family-run B&B.

Seclude yourself in the hills with a cabin rental from Valle Crucis Log Cabin Rentals or Valle Crucis Rustic Rentals. Also, private guest houses are available from families in Valle Crucis, such as Ayer's Mountain Guest House and Shook Creek Guest House.

To continue on your outing, put on your new hiking boots from the General Store and head for Grandfather Mountain, NC's most famous tourist attraction. Then maybe you can cool off in the white-water rapids of the area with a fully guided rafting trip, or go horseback riding with Chadi Farms. And if the sky is the limit, then tie into a rope and head for the rocks, rock climbing that is. You can find all these activities within a short drive from your destination of Valle Crucis.