Things to Do in the Blue Ridge Mountains near our cabin rentals

Watauga Lake Cabin Rentals - Check out the Smoky Mountains and Appalachian Attractions

Things to do during your mountain vacation!

If you are an area merchant and would like to be listed on this site for free, please email us! Our goal is to provide the best information for our renters and bring more of the world to the beauty of the Smoky Mountains.

We do our best to bring you complete and accurate service. Please email us if there are any errors in our guide. Thanks!

If your stay is within 24 hours, please call or email to book a cabin.

Click on the link below to discover this area's many attractions!

Local Dining (Butler/Elizabethton, Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk)
Shopping
Festivals
Scenic Drives
Parks
Boating
Fishing
ATV / Four wheeling
Rock climbing
Zip line
Canopy Tours
Nature Sites
Hiking Trails
Skiing
Rafting
Horseback Riding
Golf
NASCAR
Culture / Art

Local Dining

Butler and Elizabethton Restaurants:

Near Butler, Tennessee

Nannys Country Kitchen - Elizabethton, Tennessee

Pizza Hut - Elizabethton, Tennessee

Burger King - Elizabethton, Tennessee

Sonic Drive In - Elizabethton, Tennessee

Bojangles Restaurant - Elizabethton, Tennessee

Primo's Italian Restaurant - Elizabethton, Tennessee

Applebees Neighborhood Grill & Bar - Elizabethton, Tennessee

Ridgewood Barbecue - Bluff City, Tennessee

Pattycakes Diner - Watauga, Tennessee

Country Kitchen - Bristol, Tennessee

In Butler, Tennessee

Dry Hill General Store & Deli & Hardware - Butler, Tennessee

Misty Mountain Cafe & Store - Butler, Tennessee

Elk Mills Grill - Butler, Tennessee

The Barn Dining & Dancing - Butler, Tennessee

Burger Barn - Butler, Tennessee

Boone Restaurants:

American

Our Daily Bread

Arby's

Back Yard Burger

Black Cat Burrito

Bojangle's

Boone Bagelry

Boone Drug Soda Fountain and Grill

Chick-fil-A

Coyote Kitchen

Geno's Sports Lounge

Golden Corral Buffet and Grill

Greene's Grill

Huddle House

Hardee's

KFC

Lone Star Steakhouse

Long John Silver's

Macado's Restaurant

McDonald's

Melanie's Food Fantasy

Mike's Island Seafood

Murphy's Restaurant and Pub

The Peddler Steak House

Pepper's Restaurant

Ruby Tuesday

Sagebrush Steakhouse and Saloon

Sunrise Grill

Taco Bell

Trolley Shop

Tucker's Café

Wendy's

Wishbone's American Grill

Italian
- The Bistro
  Café Portofino
  Casa Rustica
  Joe's Italian Kitchen
  Ci Ci's Pizza
  Domino's Pizza
  Hungry Howie's Pizza
  Mellow Mushroom
  Mr. Originals
  Papa John's
  Pizza Hut

Mexican
- Dos Amigos
  Los Arcoiris

Greek
- Mr. Originals
  Parthenon Café Bar & Grill

Asian
- Hokkaido
  Hunan
  Makoto
  New China Buffet
  Sakura Japanese Seafood and Steakhouse

Deli
- Blimpie
  Café Portofino
  The Ham Shoppe
  Jersey Mike's Subs
  Kojay's Eatery and Coffeehouse
  Melanie's Food Fantasy
  Our Daily Bread
  Quiznos Subs
  Red Onion Café
  Subway Subs
  Tucker's Café

Bar / Pub

Black Cat Burrito

Boone Saloon

Café Portofino

Geno's Sports Lounge

Klondike Café

Macado's Restaurant

Murphy's Restaurant and Pub

Parthenon Café Bar & Grill

Peabody's Wine & Beer

Sagebrush Steakhouse and Saloon

Fine Dining
- Broyhill Inn and Conference Center
  Casa Rustica
  Mast Farm Inn
  The Peddler Steak House

BBQ
- Bandana's Bar B Que
  Sagebrush Steakhouse and Saloon

Blowing Rock Restaurants:

Fine Dining
- The Best Cellar
  Ciao Bello Italian Restaurant
  Crippen's Country Inn and Restaurant
  Gamekeeper Restaurant
  Manor House
  Twigs

American
- Highlands of Blowing Rock
  Canyons
  Knight's on Main Restaurant
  Outback Steakhouse
  The Table Restaurant
  The Dawg Star Bar
  Storie Street Grill

Italian
- Ciao Bello Italian Restaurant
  Mellow Mushroom
  Ichabod's Restaurant
  Storie Street Grill
  Pssghetti's

Bar / Pub
- Highlands of Blowing Rock
  Canyons
  The Dawg Star Bar
  Six Pence Pub
  Twigs

Deli / Cafe:
- Blimpie
  Blowing Rock Café
  Kojay's Eatery and Coffeehouse
  Parkway Café
  Sonny's Grill
  The Village Café

BBQ
- Woodlands Barbecue and Pickin’ Parlor

Desert / Ice cream
- Cookies and Cream
  Kilwin's Chocolate and Ice Cream

Banner Elk Restaurants:

American

Country Retreat and Family Billiards

Frazier's Steakhouse and Night Club

Fred's Backside Deli

Jackalope's View Restaurant at Archer's Mountain Inn

Dunn’s Deli, The Perry House Bed and Breakfast

Grandview Restaurants

McDonald's

Morels Restaurant

Nick's Restaurant and Pub

Stonewalls

Zuzda

Italian
- Banner Elk Cafe, Lodge Espresso Bar and Pizzeria
  Brick Oven Pizzeria and Pasta
  Scott's Pizza Place
  Sorrento's
  Old World Restaurant

Mexican
- Los Arcoiris

Asian
- China House I
  Tokyo Express

Deli / Cafe
- Banner Elk Cafe, Lodge Espresso Bar and Pizzeria
  The Corner Palate
  Dunn's Deli
  Fred's Backside Deli
  Quiznos Subs
  Subway Subs

Bar / Pub
- Jackalope's View Restaurant at Archer's Mountain Inn
  Louisiana Purchase Food and Spirits
  Nick's Restaurant and Pub

Fine Dining
- Louisiana Purchase Food and Spirits
  Vasarely's

BBQ
- Barbeque and Country Breakfast
  Carolina's Chicken and Pork

Scenic Drives

Blue Ridge Parkway - Click on this link for details.

Shopping

Watauga County Farmer's Market - Boone, North Carolina. Open Saturday mornings until noon (Early May to late October), Wednesdays 4 - 7 (mid-June to late September). Rain or Shine.

Charleston Forge Outlet - Boone, North Carolina. Various fine home furniture and accessories made from North Carolina artists sold at a discount.

Wildcat Flea Market - Boone, North Carolina. Watauga's largest indoor flea market. Open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday May through October. 5762 Old Highway 421 South.

Downtown Boone - Boone, North Carolina. Start on West King Street in historic downtown Boone. Enjoy many merchants and restaurants.

Boone Mall - Boone, North Carolina. 1180 Blowing Rock Rd, Boone.

Tanger Outlet Shoppes on the Parkway - Boone, North Carolina. Great brand name clothing and items discounted.

Main street Blowing Rock - Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Shops at the Martin House and Southmarke on Main Street include many specialty shops lining this historic town's center.

Emporium Shoppes at the Village - Banner Elk, North Carolina. Over 65 unique specialty shops in one building at 142 Main Street downtown Banner Elk.

Mast General Store - Valle Crucis, North Carolina since 1883 (10 minutes from Boone). Hwy 194 South.

The Mall at Johnson City - Johnson City, Tennessee.

Festivals

Old Boone Streetfest - Boone, North Carolina. One day in late September. For more information call (800) 438-7500

Tweetsie Halloween Festival - Early October through Halloween.

Octoberfest at Sugar Mountain - Banner Elk, North Carolina. For more information call (828) 898-4521.

Annual Wooly Worm Festival - Banner Elk, North Carolina. Late October weekend. Don't miss this annual festival where the wooly worms will determine the winter weather ahead!

Hickory Ridge Apple Fest - Boone, North Carolina. Late October. Check out the apple varieties at the Hickory Ridge Museum Grounds.

Music on the Mountaintop - Boone, North Carolina. Annual music festival. Not to be missed. Typically in late summer.

An Appalachian Summer Festival - Boone, North Carolina. Over 25,000 people attended last year. Music and much more.

Daniel Boone Days Music & Culture Festival - Boone, North Carolina. Typically late summer. Saturday event with great live music and much more.

Carolina Mountains Literary Festival - (1 hour 20 minutes from cabins) - Mid September.