We visited Banner Elk in October 2025 as part of our October WV/NC Mountains loop.

I loved Banner Elk. It’s a tiny town way up in the mountains of northwest North Carolina, beyond the larger towns of Boone and Blowing Rock. The Appalachian Trail passes close to Banner Elk, and it’s home to two ski resorts, Beech Mountain and Sugar Mountain. Lees-McCrae College in downtown Banner Elk is the highest-elevation college east of the Mississippi.

The drive from West Virginia was pretty despite being lots of interstate; we initially tried to take smaller roads but encountered a low bridge early on so quickly aborted that plan—then had a harrowing time backing up the Airstream on a semi-busy road. Reminder to self: always sanity check your route when towing something big!

We arrived in town to learn that the annual Woolly Worm Festival was coming up in a few days, and we were incredibly disappointed to miss it. Music, vendors, and woolly worm races??? Yes please!

The other local attraction that captured my attention, but that we missed out on, was the Wilderness Run Alpine Coaster. It looks really fun in pictures, and the parking lot was packed the day I drove by.

Campground

We stayed at a new, very pretty campground, The Barlow. It’s currently a small group of campsites—more sites are planned up the hill—with great patios including seating and a grill. We hiked up the hill to where we think the future sites are going, and they’ll have nice views up there.

The campground is about twelve minutes from downtown Banner Elk along a windy mountain road, and another 8ish minutes farther to grocery stores. I was impressed with their Food Lion.

Hiking

We had time for one hike the morning of our second day in Banner Elk, and we opted for the moderate seven-miler over the hard 10.5 miler, both on the Appalachian Trail just ten minutes from the campground. We chose the seven-miler, and it was lovely, but not the stunner that we think the longer hike is. Next time we’ll do that one!

We also identified some shorter hikes: up at Beech, this shorty with views 30 mins from town, and a five-mile waterfall hike 20-some minutes from town.

Eating and drinking

Food

Our dinner out was at Artisanal, and wow, what a surprise! The farm-to-table food was unbelievable, the service impeccable, and the venue was stunning. It was a really special dinner experience.

For lunch on day two, I grabbed us sandwiches from Williams Deli while out running errands. It’s a cute and efficient lunch spot, and our sandwiches were huge.

We had also noted in our research that High Country Pie is crazy-high rated for pizzas, including breakfast pies. Next time!

Drink

The lone brewery in Banner Elk is Kettell Beerworks, and you know that was our first stop in town. I tried the mango-peach pale ale, and J the IPA… but we only drank half our pours, as the feel of the place was a little pizza parlor-y and that’s not really what we were after.

Blind Elk Tap Room was cooler, with a neat back deck over the creek. And those two bars were the only places we tried in downtown Banner Elk. There’s not a whole lot going on there!

Close to home, across the Tennessee border in Roan Mountain, Appalachian Station at 19E was a really fun post-hike stop. It’s a hiker hostel with a pub and game room and music stage, and supposedly the best Reuben in the state!

After an action-packed two days in Banner Elk, we moved on to Waynesville and Lake Junaluska. I look forward to returning at some point to do that other AT hike and see what’s changed at The Barlow!