Grandfather gears up for Summer

BY GRACE FICARA

With summer just around the corner, Sarah Lowery, director of communications for Grandfather Mountain, discussed potential opportunities for visitors wanting to experience the beauty of the mountain.

The Hugh Morton photo exhibit is included with the price of admission and displays the founder of Grandfather’s famous photography in the newly constructed Classroom in the Clouds,, located in the Wilson Center for Nature Discovery, which opened last summer. Currently only open on weekends, the exhibit will be open to the public through the end of May.

Other activities included with admission consist of daily programming like keeper talks, where guests can speak with park educators and hopefully receive a glimpse of the habitat animals, and also visit the community science weather program, which spotlights the ebbs and flows of “top of the mountain” weather.

Additionally, there are animal encounters, where guests can come face to face with wildlife like snakes and opossums and a junior naturalist program for the younger visitors to make scientific observations.

For those who choose a more personal experience; hiking trails, picnic tables and leisurely walking trails are available to guests, the top of the mountain is generally accessible through car and access to the swinging bridge is made easy through an elevator.

Halfway up the mountain, guests can stop at the Wilson Center and explore Grandfather through a “self-guided experience.” Approximately every 30 minutes, a Grandfather Mountain documentary plays at the center in the ADA accessible theater for guests to relax and learn more about the mountain.

“The other thing about Grandfather that is so great is that we make nature and the views and all that accessible to basically everyone,” said Lowery.

Special experiences are also available for guests to register at an additional cost, which range from a “Meet the Bears” experience to “Paint with an Otter,” where guests watch otter’s frolic through non-toxic paint and get to take the otter artwork home.

“You can’t go wrong,” Lowery said. “There’s something for everyone.” For more information on events, guests can visit www.grandfather.com/eventcalendar. Registration for special experiences can be found at www. grandfather.com/experiences and daily programming at www.grandfather. com/daily-programs.