North Carolina events › Itineraries › Asheville Weekend
Asheville Weekend: a 2-day plan with 4 stops, 1 of them state parks and 3 attractions, each with admission, dog rules and hours or notes copied from the official page. 0 list free entry. Each stop has a planning estimate for time on site and the road time to the next stop; drive times from five cities are in the table.
- Days2plan, then adjust
- Stops4each with a source
- State Parks1official park pages
- Free Entry0as the page states
Trip Kit
Plan It With Your People
Pick a start date, then send the plan to your group chat, put every day in your calendar, or open each day as a route in Google Maps.
Someone sent you this trip. It is set to the dates they picked.
Two Asheville stops with prices from each operator's own page.
Day at a glance: about 5 h 30 min at the stops plus 23 min on the road between them, 5 h 53 min in all. Leave at 9:00 a.m. and you finish around 2:53 p.m., before meals and the drive to and from where you sleep.
Biltmore Estate
Asheville, Buncombe County · Attraction
- Plan about
- 4 h (our estimate)
- Arrive about
- 9:00 a.m. (our estimate)
- Priority
- Essential (our pick)
- Adult admission
- Biltmore House & Grounds starting at $110 (fall); Grounds only starting at $85
- Child admission
- Discount ages 16 & under (amount not stated on page); ages 9 & under free
- Dogs
- Not confirmed
- Parking
- Complimentary parking
- Operator notes
- Tickets include Antler Hill Village & Winery, complimentary wine tasting; Annual Pass $299
Checked October 18, 2026.
WNC Nature Center
Asheville, Buncombe County · Attraction
- Plan about
- 1 h 30 min (our estimate)
- Arrive about
- 1:23 p.m.
- Priority
- Optional (our pick)
- Adult admission
- $16.95 + tax (City of Asheville residents $11.95)
- Child admission
- $12.95 + tax (ages 3-12); youth 13-15 $16.95
- Dogs
- Pets prohibited
- Parking
- Free parking
- Operator notes
- Alcohol, tobacco/vaping, balls, scooters, bikes and drones not permitted
Checked October 18, 2026.
About 23 min by road (7 mi) from Biltmore Estate
One stop, a drive from town: the operator's page and the state park page describe the same place.
Day at a glance: about 2 h 30 min at the stops plus 0 min on the road between them, 2 h 30 min in all. Leave at 9:00 a.m. and you finish around 11:30 a.m., before meals and the drive to and from where you sleep.
Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park
Chimney Rock, Rutherford County · Attraction
- Plan about
- 2 h 30 min (our estimate)
- Arrive about
- 9:00 a.m. (our estimate)
- Priority
- Essential (our pick)
- Adult admission
- $17 per adult (1-day ticket)
- Child admission
- $8 youth (ages 5-15); 4 and under free
- Dogs
- Pets allowed in the park, not inside buildings or the attraction elevator; 6 ft leash (ncparks.gov)
- Operator notes
- Reservations recommended on busy weekends; gates close 7 PM
Checked October 18, 2026.
Chimney Rock State Park
Chimney Rock, Rutherford County · State park
A 315-foot rock spire overlooking Hickory Nut Gorge and Lake Lure gives this Rutherford County park its name. The Chimney Rock attraction charges admission, while the Rumbling Bald access is free and more rugged.
- Plan about
- Included in the stop above (our estimate)
- Arrive about
- 11:30 a.m.
- Priority
- Optional (our pick)
- Admission
- Rumbling Bald day use free; Chimney Rock attraction charges per person (amount not on park page)
- Hours
- Closes 6 to 9 p.m.; opens 8 a.m., by month
- Dogs
- Pets are allowed at the park, except they are not permitted inside buildings or in the elevator at the Chimney Rock attraction. Pets must be on an attended leash of no longer than 6 feet at all times.
- Closed
- Both Rumbling Bald and Eagle Rock accesses are closed on Christmas Day.
Checked October 27, 2026. Official page
Same place or next door as Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park
More Stops If You Have Time
Gorges State Park
Sapphire, Transylvania County · State parkFree Entry
Waterfalls, river gorges and sheer rock faces fill more than 8,000 acres of temperate rainforest near where North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia meet. Backpacking and horseback riding are signature ways to see its 26 waterfalls.
- Plan about
- 2 h (our estimate)
- Priority
- Optional (our pick)
- Admission
- Free day use
- Hours
- Closes 7 to 10 p.m.; opens 7 a.m., by month
- Dogs
- Pets are allowed at the park and at campsites. They are not permitted inside buildings. Pets must be on an attended leash of no longer than 6 feet at all times.
- Closed
- The park is closed on Christmas Day.
Checked October 27, 2026. Official page
South Mountains State Park
Connelly Springs, Burke County · State parkFree Entry
Where the Appalachians meet the Foothills, this park reaches 3,000 feet, with an 80-foot waterfall and nearly 50 miles of trail for hikers, riders and mountain bikers. The Jacob Fork River has designated trout waters, and a separate Clear Creek access lies to the west.
- Plan about
- 2 h (our estimate)
- Priority
- Optional (our pick)
- Admission
- Free day use
- Hours
- Closes 7 to 10 p.m.; opens 7 a.m., by month
- Dogs
- Pets are allowed at the park and at campsites. They are not permitted inside buildings. Pets must be on an attended leash of no longer than 6 feet at all times.
- Closed
- The park is closed on Christmas Day.
Checked October 27, 2026. Official page
Linville Caverns
Marion, McDowell County · Attraction
- Plan about
- 1 h (our estimate)
- Priority
- Optional (our pick)
- Adult admission
- $15 (adult)
- Child admission
- $13 (ages 4-12); under 4 free
- Dogs
- Not confirmed
- Operator notes
- Open Thursday-Monday 9-5 (Sundays 1-5); closed Tuesday and Wednesday and Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas
Checked October 18, 2026.
Drive Times From Five Cities
| Stop | Charlotte | Raleigh | Greensboro | Asheville | Wilmington |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biltmore Estate | 124 min | 225 min | 155 min | 7 min | 317 min |
| Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park | 114 min | 242 min | 173 min | 55 min | 304 min |
| Chimney Rock State Park | 114 min | 242 min | 173 min | 55 min | 304 min |
First route Google Maps listed, read October 18, 2026, so live traffic may be reflected. Stops without a row are not in our drive-times file. Full table: drive times to North Carolina attractions.
Map of Asheville Weekend
Frequently Asked Questions
How many days do I need?
This plan is built for 2 days. Stops are listed in a workable order, not a promise that every one fits in your time.
How were the times worked out?
Road times between stops come from OpenStreetMap road routing with no live traffic. Time on site and the Essential or Optional label are our planning estimates, so treat the day totals as a starting point and read each operator’s hours.
Are the prices and hours current?
Each stop was read on its own official page on the date shown under it. Prices and hours change by season; use the official page link before you go.
Where are the events?
Dated events change every week, so they are not on this page. Pick your dates in the trip kit above, then open the event finder for what is on.
What We Could Not Confirm
- Biltmore Estate: dogs not confirmed on the operator page we read; check the official page before you go.
- Linville Caverns: dogs not confirmed on the operator page we read; check the official page before you go.
- Road times between stops come from OpenStreetMap road routing (OSRM), read October 27, 2026, with no live traffic, closures, ferry waits or seasonal road status; real trips can take longer, and the trip kit’s route buttons open current Google Maps directions.
- Time at each stop, the Essential or Optional label and every arrival time are our own planning estimates, not figures from the operators. Arrival times assume a 9:00 a.m. start and no meal stops. We did not check each arrival against that stop’s opening hours, so confirm hours on the official page.
- Map pins are the park’s own ncparks.gov coordinates or an OpenStreetMap point for the attraction. They are not verified entrances or parking areas; confirm the entrance on the official page before you drive.
Sources
- Biltmore Estate (operator page)
- WNC Nature Center (operator page)
- Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park (operator page)
- Chimney Rock State Park (state park page)
- Gorges State Park (state park page)
- South Mountains State Park (state park page)
- Linville Caverns (operator page)
- OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap data
- OpenStreetMap place points
Read on October 27, 2026. Road times are computed from park GPS and OpenStreetMap points without traffic. How we check: editorial standards; spot a mistake? Tell us.
Cite this page: It's North Carolina, “Asheville Weekend”, itsnorthcarolina.com/itineraries/asheville-weekend/ (updated ). By the It's North Carolina editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.