Two years without visiting the wonderful mountain town of Brevard and the surrounding land of waterfalls is too long! I remedied that with a fairly hastily planned long weekend in this Western North Carolina wonderland. We even had a bonus with this trip – we got to see our friends and neighbors who had just moved to this area. If you’re wondering what to do on a weekend around the Pisgah National Forest, read on for a few fun ideas. 

The drive through the mountains of North Georgia and Western North Carolina is always beautiful. I still can’t believe how close all this incredible scenery is to us.

Our first stop was at Cashiers Sliding Rock. We had really wanted this to be a trip of swimming holes and waterfall pools with Harrison since he loves the water so much but the weather was less than stellar. And getting a toddler to swim in 60-degree mountain streams when it’s cloudy and barely 80 degrees is….not really happening. But my kid is so good that he was happy to dig in the sand with the little beach toys I brought him while I splashed around and Sean went down the sliding rock.

This kid went a LONG time – like, an entire year, without sleeping in the car no matter how long of a trip it was. He now snoozes again thank goodness. Sometimes it’s only 30 minutes but it still makes a big difference. 

Before we arrived at our Airbnb, we stopped at McCall Farm for some produce (peaches, cantaloupe, okra, corn and blackberries), dahlias, and sweeping mountain views. This place oozed country charm and those were the most delicious blackberries I’ve ever eaten.

View from our Pisgah Forest airbnb. 🙂

Downtown Brevard is absolutely charming so we headed down there to check out Upcountry Brewing Company. It was pretty good and Harrison even met a little friend to play foosball with. Too cute. We had a yummy dinner at the Jordan Street Cafe before going back to the mountain house where Sean and I sat outside watching the stars until the moon rose over the hills. Magical. Saturday morning started with cinnamon roles for breakfast at the mountain house before we went looking for waterfalls. Went down a familiar road in Pisgah Forest and saw Mill Shoals and French Broad Falls. What I suspect is normally a pretty mild flow of water was absolutely roaring from all the rain we’ve had this season and a recent storm. It was impressive and very powerful.

Connestee Falls was our second stop and we were at the top looking down and out at a mirroring falls. Stunning! Sean got out the drone and flew it out to see the roaring river where the two falls converged. Harrison loved seeing the drone out and about.

We were super bummed that Rocky’s Soda Shoppe was closed on the weekend (and super surprised). It’s such a fun spot with its throwback decor, diner menu, general store, and ice cream counter, and we had wanted to share it with Harrison. Maybe next time. 

Harrison LOVED exploring the Gem Mine and came home with his very own little treasure chest of rocks. Haha.Rocky’s may have been closed but we knew Dolly’s was open! This ice cream shoppe is right at the entrance to Pisgah Forest and has delicious ice cream along with rocking chairs on the porch. Harrison loved his black raspberry ice cream cone as evidenced in the photos below. 

After ice cream is was back to the Mountain House for a little rest and to get ready for the next part of our day – heading over to East Flat Rock to see our friends Sam, Dan, Olivia and Ben who recently moved from our neighborhood. We toured their new house while the kids played then headed down the street to the block party that was going on. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming but the event got majorly rained out. We were all hungry so headed over to East Flat Rock Wood Room and had a great experience. Fun and lively place, great service, no wait for a table, and good bbq. It was so nice to see our friends and catch up a bit. 

Sean encouraged me to go out for a bit after dropping him and Harrison at the house for Harrison’s bedtime so I rolled the windows down, turned the music up and drove into Pisgah Forest out to Looking Glass Falls. This falls is right off the road which was perfect since I was along and it was starting to get dark. I’ve seen this falls several times before but never with much water going over. Couldn’t even get down to the bottom – it was closed due to all the mist and water making the steps and trail so slick. Quite a breathtaking thing to see and a reminder that no place is ever the same – it can be an entirely new experience each time you see it. 

On Sunday, we slept in a bit until 8.30 am and slowly had breakfast then packed up the car. We’d debated between heading back south and stopping at another waterfall or checking out downtown Hendersonville. We decided to check out the town and had fun exploring with Harrison. We went to a local park, walked around downtown, went in some cute and fun shops, and had a good lunch at MezzaLuna.

All in all another fantastic area to the Brevard area. We truly love it here.