Grandfather Mountain, Nature on a Whole Different Level
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About Grandfather Mountain

FAQ

Visitor Center Under Construction in 2008    
Ownership   Key Personnel
Elevation Geologic Age
Acreage Location
Traveling Distances Season
2008 admission rates Attendance
Employees Swinging Bridge
UN Biosphere Reserve The Nature Conservancy
Ecological Communities Elevation Change
Longitude & Latitude of Bridge Endangered Species

Construction at summit in 2008:
The Visitor Center that has stood beside the Mile High Swinging Bridge since 1961 has been demolished and a new, smaller, more energy efficient building is being erected in its place. The goal is to have the new shop open to the public in the summer of 2009.

The construction reduces the number of parking spaces available at the summit, so special contingencies are in place to keep traffic flowing on busy days.

Ownership:
Grandfather Mountain has been privately owned by Hugh Morton or his heirs since 1952.

Key Personnel
Crae Morton, President
Has worked at Grandfather Mountain since 2003. Named President of Grandfather Mountain in June 2005.

Harris Prevost, Vice President
Has worked at Grandfather Mountain since 1972. Past president of the North Carolina Travel Council, North Carolina High Country Host, the Blue Ridge Parkway Association and the Southern Highlands Attractions. Current President of the North Carolina Travel Industry Association.

Elevation:
5,946 feet. The highest peak, the Calloway Peak, is the highest point on the Blue Ridge escarpment.

Mount Mitchell, elevation 6,684 feet, is the highest peak in the Black Mountains and the highest point in Eastern America. The Blacks are a spur range off the Blue Ridge.

Geologic Age:
Rock formations on Grandfather date back 1.2 billion years. Grandfather as a geological feature (the mountain itself) is 730 million years old.

Acreage:
Approximately 3,300 acres owned and managed by Grandfather Mountain, Inc. Geologically and biologically, the Grandfather Mountain Biosphere Reserve is much larger and includes lands owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy, the US Park Service and the US Forest Service.

Location:
Located on US 221, one mile south of the intersection of US 221 and the Blue Ridge Parkway and two miles north of Linville, North Carolina.

Traveling Distances:
75 miles northeast of Asheville, 100 miles northwest of Charlotte, 50 east of Johnson City, TN, 19 miles south of Boone, 15 miles south of Blowing Rock

Season:
Open all year, 8 AM to dusk spring to fall; 9 AM to 5 PM, weather permitting in winter. Closed Christmas Day and Thanksgiving Day.

2008 rates:
$14 adults (13-59); $12 seniors 60+; and $6 children 4-12. Under four free. Discount rates available for groups of 20 or more.

Attendance:
Approximately 250,000 people per year.

Employees:
36 full time, 55 additional seasonal employees

Swinging Bridge:
The Mile High Swinging Bridge is named for its elevation above sea level (5,300 feet). The bridge is 228 feet long and spans a chasm that is 80 feet deep.

The bridge was built in 1952. It was first constructed in a plant in Greensboro, NC and later erected on Grandfather over a three week period in the late summer of 1952.

The first person to cross the bridge was Merle Umstead, the nine-year-old daughter of Gov. William B. Umstead who spoke at the dedication.

The Bridge was rebuilt in 1999 using the original towers. The cables, floor boards and side rails were all replaced using galvanized steel.

The new design was prepared by Sutton, Kennerly & Associates Engineering of Asheville, N.C. Construction was completed by Taylor & Murphy Construction Company of Asheville at a cost of $300,000.

One of the main advantages of the modern building materials is that they do not have to be painted. Now Grandfather Mountain employees will not have to hang out over the gorge to paint the span.

UN Biosphere Reserve:
In 1971, the United Nations began a worldwide program designed to help land managers share scientific knowledge and practical experiences. In March of 2008, the Man & Biosphere Program encompassed 531 biosphere reserves in 105 countries.

In 1992, Grandfather Mountain became the first and still the only privately owned property to be accepted into the international network of biosphere reserves.

Criteria for selection as a Biosphere Reserve are that the property must be:

  • a sample of a unique ecological community
  • permanently protected from uncontrolled development
  • with a history of scientific research and monitoring
  • that provides for training of resource management professionals
  • and is dedicated to consciousness-raising with respect to current ecological issues.

The Nature Conservancy:
The Nature Conservancy considers Grandfather Mountain an ecological site of global significance, as it provides habitat for more globally rare species than any mountain east of the Rockies.

Grandfather's partnership with The Nature Conservancy began in 1990 when Grandfather Mountain, Inc. began donating a series of conservation easements that forever protect the Grandfather Mountain backcountry from development.

Year Obtained by TNC From: Acreage
1990 to 2001 Grandfather Mountain, Inc. donated conservation easements (legally binding agreements not to change the natural character of the property) 1,777 acres from the crest of GM to the Blue Ridge Parkway in what is known as the GM Backcountry
1993 Donated by the Wilmor Corp., of which Hugh Morton was a junior partner 357 acres on the north slope of GM near the intersection of NC 105 and NC 184
1993 Purchased from the Wilmor Corp. with a grant from the Stanback Foundation 291 acres on the north slope of GM near the intersection of NC 105 and NC 184
1993 Purchased from a group of local investors with a grant from the Stanback Foundation 300 acres on the north slope of GM above Adams Apple resort.
1996 Donated by the Wilmor Corp. 47 acres on the north slope of GM near the intersection of NC 105 and NC 184
2000 Donated by Grandfather Mountain, Inc. 322 acres on the south slope of Grandfather at the headwaters of Grandmother Creek
2004 Sold by Grandfather Mountain, Inc. to TNC at one half its fair-market value. The sale was financed by a grant from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, a fund established by the General Assembly of North Carolina to protect and restore water quality in the Tar Heel state. 925 acres at Boone Fork Creek (the headwaters of the Watauga River running from the top of Calloway Peak to the Blue Ridge Parkway near Julian Price Park)
2006 Sold by Grandfather Mountain, Inc. to TNC at one half its fair-market value. Funds for the purchase were awarded to the Conservancy by the state’s Clean Water Management Trust Fund. 73 acres that encompass the Profile Trail, including 3,000 feet on both sides of the Watauga River.

In all, The Nature Conservancy manages 4,092 acres on Grandfather Mountain.

Ecological Communities:
Grandfather Mountain supports sixteen (16) distinct ecological communities, each supporting its own unique web of life. It is Grandfather's abrupt rise above the valley floor that causes the change in elevation and climate conditions that supports such a diversity of life.

  • Fraser Fir Forest
  • Red Spruce-Fraser Fir Forest
  • Heath Bald
  • High Elevation Red Oak Forest
  • Montane White Oak Forest
  • Northern Hardwood Forest - Typic Subtype
  • Northern Hardwood Forest - Beech Gap Subtype
  • Bolderfield Forest
  • Rich Cove Forest
  • Acidic Cove Forest
  • Canada Hemlock Forest
  • Montane Calcareous Cliff
  • High Elevation Seep
  • Spray Cliff
  • High Elevation Rocky Summit
  • High Elevation Granitic Dome

Elevation Change:
To the North and West, Grandfather rises 1,500 feet above the Linville River Valley. To the South and East, Grandfather rises 4,000 feet above the Catawba River Valley.

Longitude & Latitude of Swinging Bridge:
The north end of the Mile High Swinging Bridge is located at 36 degrees 05 minutes 43.088 seconds north latitude, 81 degrees 49 minutes 55.406 seconds west longitude. The other end of the bridge is positioned at 36 degrees 05 minutes 41.079 seconds north, 81 degrees 49 minutes 56.749 seconds west.

Endangered Species:
Grandfather Mountain is habitat for 73 rare and endangered species. Of these, 32 are globally imperiled:

    G1 - (5 or fewer occurrences worldwide)
    Spruce Fir Moss Spider (arachnid)
    Blue Ridge Goldenrod (vascular plant)
    Frullania appalachiana (liverwort)


    G2 - (6 to 20 occurrences worldwide)
    Spreading Avens (vascular plant)
    Rock Gnome Lichen (lichen)
    Bazzania nudicaulis (liverwort)
    Plagiochila sullivantii (liverwort)
    Sphenolobopsis personii (liverwort)
    Grandfather Mountain Lepodontium (moss)
    Bent Avens (vascular plant)
    Roan Mountain Bluet (vascular plant)
    Heller's Blazing Star (vascular plant)
    Velvet Covert (mollusk)
    High Mountain Supercoil (mollusk)

    G3 - (21 to 100 occurrences worldwide)
    Bog Turtle (reptile)
    Eastern Small-footed Bat (mammal)
    Appalachian Woodrat (mammal)
    Weller's Salamander (amphibian)
    Waterfan (lichen)
    Plagiochila virginica (liverwort)
    Plagiochila austinii (liverwort)
    Trailing Wolfsbane (vascular plant)
    Wretched Sedge (vascular plant)
    Tall Larkspur (vascular plant)
    Gray's Lily (vascular plant)
    Azalea vaseyi(vascular plant)
    Rota's Feather Moss (moss)
    Pigmy Salamander (amphibian)
    Mountain Bittercress (vascular plant)
    Carolina Saxifrage (vascular plant)
    Roan Rattlesnakeroot (vascular plant)
    Appalachian Golden-banner (vascular plant)

 
What People Say…

"We came up in August, and renewed our vows before my husband left to go on a tour to Iraq...it was breathtaking, and such a wonderful experience...our pictures are wonderful. Thank you so much for the memories!"

Cindy

Jacksonville, NC