Want to Escape and Find Your Adventure? Hendersonville North Carolina Has You Covered

Get to Know Hendersonville, NC

• The city is named for 19th-century North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Leonard Henderson.
• Hendersonville is known as “The City of Four Seasons” for its’ distinctive seasonal weather patterns.
• The “Wolfe Angel” statue, which inspired Thomas Wolfe’s novel, “Look Homeward, Angel”, is located in the Oakdale Cemetery.
• The city’s largest street festival is the annual North Carolina Apple Festival, which draws up to 50,000 spectators.
• Hometown of Top Gun actress, Kelly McGillis.
• Coca-Cola sent an artist from Charlotte, NC to repaint their mural on the side of the Mike’s on Main restaurant.

Hendersonville’s Main Street

Main Street, which winds through downtown Hendersonville, is the second largest downtown in western North Carolina. Only Asheville is bigger. Beautiful planter boxes, lush with vegetation, provide ample shade. As you walk along, stop in one of the more than 100 shops that line both sides of the street. If you’re hungry, grab a bite to eat in one of the 25 restaurants. The locally owned businesses and galleries add to the charm of the downtown area. And make sure you stop to take a picture at the restored Coca-Cola advertisement painted on the side of Mike’s On Main. Or, pose with one of the many painted bears. Yes, painted bears are situated along the sidewalks.

Mike’s On Main

This 1950s-era soda shop is a step back in time. And a great place to fuel up for your day’s adventures. Homemade breakfast favorites like omelets, French toast, and “the best potatoes around” are all served in midcentury ambiance and decor. Or, perhaps you want to stop by after a hike for lunch. Mike’s offers homemade soups, salads, burgers, and a wide selection of sandwiches. Select your favorite oldies song on the free jukebox. Grab a seat at a table, booth, or historic soda fountain to enjoy your meal set in the past. Mike’s is probably the most photographed building in Hendersonville. And it’s no wonder why.

McFarlan Bakery

One of only a few left in America today, McFarlan’s is an authentic “made from scratch” bakery. And the quality of their sweets comes through as they use same recipes used for over 80 years. It’s hard to say what we liked best, but we tried numerous donuts to try and make a decision. But McFarlans has it all. Cookies, cakes, donuts, and pies, Oh my! But also breads, other pastries, and seasonal desserts. You will need a hike after grabbing something sweet from here.

Black Bear Coffee Co.

As they say on their website, “Life without coffee is a scary place”. Lucky for all of us, Black Bear Coffee is around to make it a little less scary. Everything here is a nod to the coffee “culture”. The ceiling is covered in burlap sacks that coffee is shipped in from exotic places. If sacks could talk, imagine the stories they could tell. The breakfast sandwiches and pastries are great for grabbing on the go. Or, to sit and talk while enjoying them.

Appalachian Pinball Museum

With a collection of both vintage and newer machines, this museum is truly interactive. For a flat fee, you can stay and play all day! Owner/operator Joh French maintains the machines himself and has since he was a teenager in Colorado. A few of the rare vintage models are for display only, but he has many available for play. Including a Wrestlemania machine autographed by Hulk Hogan. Only 400 Wrestlemania machines were built.

As if that wasn’t enough, they also have a collection of pop culture items. A T-Birds jacket from the movie Grease. A Ghostbusters playset. This is the sister site to the Asheville Pinball Museum. I’m not sure if either are, in any way, associated with the Las Vegas Pinball Hall of Fame.

Cheers! Trail

Ah! A refreshing drink always goes down smoothly after you feel you’ve earned it. While Hendersonville has many hiking trails, this is a different sort of trail. The Cheers! Trail is the only trail in the state that has four different types of craft beverages. The trail has 23 stops along it. 10 breweries, 7 wineries, 3 hard cideries, and a meadery. 

Some of the highlights you’ll see are Sideways Farm and Brewery, located on a working farm. They highlight the agricultural side of beer. Hendersonville sits in Henderson County, the largest apple-producing county in the state. And seventh largest in the nation. Local orchards supply fresh apples to Appalachian Ridge and Bold Rock Cideries. This makes for some of the freshest cider you’re likely to have.

The county is also home to North Carolina’s newest wine county. Local wineries produce classic European favorites to sweeter wines produced from native grapes. Because of the unique soil, climate, and elevation, the county has earned the AVA designation. 

AVA Designation – American Viticultural Area. An AVA is a delimited grape-growing region with specific geographic or climatic features that distinguish it from the surrounding regions and affect how grapes are grown.

Popular in colonial times, Mead is making a comeback in the southern Appalachian area. Mead is a form of wine derived from honey. World’s Edge Meadery is colocated with Point Lookout Vineyards.

Pick up your Cheers! Trail Passport at the Hendersonville Visitor’s Center for $10. Once you have at least 12 stamps, go back to the Visitor’s Center for your choice of Trail swag. 

Hendersonville’s outdoor adventures

Jump Off Rock

Long ago, this area of North Carolina was hunting grounds for the Cherokee. Over 300 years ago, a young Cherokee maiden received word that her young Chief had been killed in battle. So grief-stricken, she climbed to the edge of the rock and jumped off. Cherokee legend says that on moonlit nights, you can see her ghost.

Today, it is a scenic overlook providing panoramic views of the Blue Ridge and Pisgah mountain ranges. Interspersed are rolling meadows and pastures. Many congregate here at sunset for that perfect picture. There are three hiking trails around Jump Off Rock, as well. They vary in length and difficulty. Blue is the shortest and easiest. Yellow, is an intermediate trail, and Red is the longest and hardest.

Chimney Rock State Park

Located a short 18-mile drive east of Hendersonville is Chimney Rock State Park. This biodiverse park offers six hiking trails from which to choose. From kid-friendly to more strenuous. Also, a 75-mile panoramic view and one of the tallest waterfalls on the East Coast. If you want the views, but have trouble hiking to the observation deck, a 26-story elevator inside the mountain is an easy way to get up there.

The beauty of the park even caught Hollywood’s eye. This played a part in making North Carolina the no. 3 film-making state in the country. Some movies filmed in and around the park include The Last of the Mohicans, Firestarter, and Abreed Apart. A mile down the road at Lake Lure, two other stars had the time of their lives filming Dirty Dancing.

The park also has over 550 species of vascular plants. And is a safe haven for several species listed on the North Carolina Endangered, Threatened, and Candidate plant species and one Federally protected species.

Be sure to keep an eye out for Peregrine Falcons. These birds slice through the air at more than 60 mph and can dive at 200 mph. In the 60s, none of these birds were to be found here, but in recent years, their numbers are once again thriving. This is in large part to conservation efforts and captive-breeding programs.

DuPont State Forest

This forest encompasses more than 10,000 acres. With breathtaking waterfalls and nearly 80 miles of roads and trails, the forest has everything an outdoor enthusiast could want. This relatively young State Recreational Forest was acquired in three major phases between 1995 and 2000.

DuPont Forest has several hikes to waterfalls throughout. Some of these are Hooker Falls, High Falls, and Triple Falls. But also Grassy Creek Falls, Wintergreen Falls, and Bridal Veil Falls.

Another Hollywood blockbuster had scenes shot here. The Hunger Games. In fact, The Hunger Games was shot entirely in North Carolina.

Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site 

American poet, author, historian, and lecturer, Carl Sandburg, spent the last 22 years of his life at his estate in Flat Rock. Today, Connemara is a National Historic Site offering insight into the Sandburg family and their 264-acre farm. You can tour the home for a small fee and see his collection of over 12,000 books, notes, and papers. Here, you’ll learn about his life as a journalist, writer, and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. In the barn, visit the descendants of Mrs. Sandburgs champion dairy goat herd. Five miles of trails wind around the property, as well. 

Talk about adventure! Did you know Carl Sandburg rode the rails as a hobo? Setting out from his hometown of Galesburg, Illinois and criss-crossing the American Midwest until ending in Omaha, Nebraska. He even went as far west as Salida, Colorado, southwest of Denver. You can discover this, and more, at this historic site.

Golf Courses

Maybe your idea of walking isn’t necessarily through the woods. That’s ok. They still have you covered. With six courses to choose from, you should have no trouble finding a tee time. Broadmoor Golf Links, Crooked Creek, and Cummings Cove Golf and Country Club are all 18-hole courses. Orchard Trace Golf Club is also 18 holes, but a smaller par-3 course while the others are larger.

The Etowah Valley Golf and Resort started as a brick manufacturing plant in the early part of the 20th century. The land was mined for the clay needed for the bricks until the early 50s, until manufacturing moved to Fletcher, NC. Because of this, the ground was battered and scarred. In gratitude for the many years of loyalty from old employees, the founder of the company decided to reward them. So, in 1964, Bruce Drysdale reclaimed the lands and built a championship golf course. This was for his former employees who owned most of the surrounding lands. Famed course architect Edmund Ault designed one of the best golf courses in North Carolina. This was the first course in western North Carolina to have fully irrigated fairways and a paved cart path throughout the course. The 27 holes here are sure to challenge your handicap while you take in the awe-inspiring mountain views.

Fireside Golf Range has it all. Driving range. Short-game area. Miniature golf. And batting cages. Or, maybe you are looking to improve your game. With these coaches you will step up your game no matter what level you are currently.

Canoeing, kayaking, and tubing are a few water-based activities for summer fun. The French Broad River meanders through the county and is becoming a recreational hub. It’s also one of the few rivers that flow north instead of south. It’s also one of the oldest rivers in the world, dating back 260-325 million years. This river flows through some beautiful scenery. And river enthusiasts have been working to conserve it for years to come.

Be sure to head over to Team ECCO-Aquarium and Shark Lab on Main Street before you leave. Here, you can watch a shark feeding among other things. Opened primarily as a teaching facility, its focus is on education, enrichment, and exploration of the oceans. Integrated into their exhibits and programs is science, history, math, and culture. This has to be the only place around where you can see and learn about ocean life.