Please note: Nature Connects^®: Art with LEGO^® Bricks has been postponed until July; however, the exhibit will have an extended schedule and will be open until November 1. We look forward to seeing you!

The Arboretum is excited to welcome back the widely popular traveling exhibit, Nature Connects^®: Art with LEGO^® Bricks by Sean Kenney. Featuring 14 larger-than-life-size sculptures place created with nearly 500,000 LEGO Bricks, this family-friendly exhibit draws inspiration from the living world and combines art, play and science to create an inspiring intersection of education, entertainment and the environment. New sculptures include a 5-foot tall colorful peacock, giant dragonfly, bonsai tree and more!

See where the cougars and otters sleep overnight, meet black bears that are not commonly on display, learn the ins and outs of what it takes to care for the animals year-round, observe a training session and find out why the animals call Grandfather Mountain home.

Offered on weekends, April – October.

Since the early 1950’s Spruce Pine, North Carolina has been the host of the Festival and welcomed visitors to shop for beautiful jewelry, gemstones, minerals, beads, crystals, fossils and more! Even celebrities have been spotted at the Festival selecting their jewelry, gemstones and gifts! The Festival features gem, jewelry and mineral dealers from across the country showcasing their merchandise to fit every budget. Whether you are shopping for an engagement ring, a special stone for your own setting, a custom designed piece of jewelry or a special crystal display for your home, you can’t miss the NC Mineral and Gem Festival. Mine tours to area mines will be held July 30-31. Reservations are required.

On exhibit Saturdays and Sundays from 12 – 4 p.m. (weather permitting), Rocky Cove Railroad is a G-Scale (garden scale) model train that demonstrates the coming of trains to western North Carolina at the turn of the 20th century. The exhibit is located below the Grand Garden Promenade.

Please note: Nature Connects^®: Art with LEGO^® Bricks has been postponed until July; however, the exhibit will have an extended schedule and will be open until November 1. We look forward to seeing you!

The Arboretum is excited to welcome back the widely popular traveling exhibit, Nature Connects^®: Art with LEGO^® Bricks by Sean Kenney. Featuring 14 larger-than-life-size sculptures place created with nearly 500,000 LEGO Bricks, this family-friendly exhibit draws inspiration from the living world and combines art, play and science to create an inspiring intersection of education, entertainment and the environment. New sculptures include a 5-foot tall colorful peacock, giant dragonfly, bonsai tree and more!

The Fairy trail is open Monday thru Saturday, 9am-4pm. We encourage all visitors to be patient as there will be limits to the number of people allowed on the trail at the same time. While the trail is outdoors, there are some small spaces and we want to ensure our guests and fairies are safe. Please practice appropriate social distancing and bring a mask in case. Masks are not required, but are considerate in a close area. Our restrooms are not open to the public at this time. Please make arrangements prior to visiting.

Rules of the trail:

Do not move or rearrange fairy displays. The fairies are very fond of their own decorating.

Do not leave trash on the trail. Fairies do not like litter in their town.

Please ensure children and pets are supervised at all times. Dogs and loud noises can scare the fairies into hiding.

Do not disturb wildlife or vegetation. The fairies depend on the vegetation to build their homes.

The trail is one way only. Please stay on the trail at all times.

The Fairies can’t wait to see you all here!

P.S. the Fairies would like us to remind you that we are a non-profit and donations are greatly appreciated. Help us keep the fairies living in the style with which they’ve become accustomed.

Please note: Nature Connects^®: Art with LEGO^® Bricks has been postponed until July; however, the exhibit will have an extended schedule and will be open until November 1. We look forward to seeing you!

The Arboretum is excited to welcome back the widely popular traveling exhibit, Nature Connects^®: Art with LEGO^® Bricks by Sean Kenney. Featuring 14 larger-than-life-size sculptures place created with nearly 500,000 LEGO Bricks, this family-friendly exhibit draws inspiration from the living world and combines art, play and science to create an inspiring intersection of education, entertainment and the environment. New sculptures include a 5-foot tall colorful peacock, giant dragonfly, bonsai tree and more!

The Fairy trail is open Monday thru Saturday, 9am-4pm. We encourage all visitors to be patient as there will be limits to the number of people allowed on the trail at the same time. While the trail is outdoors, there are some small spaces and we want to ensure our guests and fairies are safe. Please practice appropriate social distancing and bring a mask in case. Masks are not required, but are considerate in a close area. Our restrooms are not open to the public at this time. Please make arrangements prior to visiting.

Rules of the trail:

Do not move or rearrange fairy displays. The fairies are very fond of their own decorating.

Do not leave trash on the trail. Fairies do not like litter in their town.

Please ensure children and pets are supervised at all times. Dogs and loud noises can scare the fairies into hiding.

Do not disturb wildlife or vegetation. The fairies depend on the vegetation to build their homes.

The trail is one way only. Please stay on the trail at all times.

The Fairies can’t wait to see you all here!

P.S. the Fairies would like us to remind you that we are a non-profit and donations are greatly appreciated. Help us keep the fairies living in the style with which they’ve become accustomed.

During this 5-week online group class, Ben Brill will cover the fundamentals of ukulele and guitar and teach kids several cool-sounding songs they can play on the instrument right away. The group will even co-create an original song by the end of the class.

*For students interested in guitar, they’ll need to have a simple $10 device called a Capo to play along with the class.

This is a FUN, low-pressure way to have some enjoy music this summer. It’s great if students can attend all 5 classes, but they still can drop in any day and learn.

The event will happen weekly on Tuesday’s at 11 AM, starting July 7th, 2020. If you don’t yet own an instrument, Ben can make some suggestions. The cost of the sessions is $20 per class and can be paid upfront (all classes), OR per session.

If you’re interested in the group, send Ben a message so that you can receive the secure Zoom links to the meetings and farther instructions.

Buncombe County Public Libraries will be opening three additional locations for curbside pickup service, the Fairview, Leicester, and Oakley/South Asheville branches. These locations will operate from 1-5 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, in addition to our current curbside pickup service locations at the Black Mountain, North Asheville, South Buncombe, and West Asheville locations. For more information about library curbside pickup service or to place an item on hold for pickup, please call your local library or the Ask-A-Librarian line (828-250-4700) or visit buncombecounty.org/library. We hope to see you soon!

We’re thrilled to host the virtual launch for Ron Rash’s new story collection! This event is free but registration is required. Please click here to register. On the day of the event, registrants will receive the link required to attend. Pre-order In the Valley below to receive a bookplate signed by Ron Rash.

From bestselling and award-winning writer Ron Rash comes a collection of ten searing stories and the return of the villainess who propelled Serena to national acclaim, in a long-awaited novella.

In these ten stories, Rash spins a haunting allegory of the times we live in–rampant capitalism, the severing of ties to the natural world in the relentless hunt for profit, the destruction of body and soul with pills meant to mute our pain–and yet within this world he illuminates acts of extraordinary decency and heroism. Two of the stories have already been singled out for accolades: “Baptism” was chosen by Roxane Gay for inclusion in The Best American Short Stories 2018, and “Neighbors” was selected by Jonathan Lethem for The Best American Mystery Stories 2019. And in revisiting Serena Pemberton, Rash updates his bestselling parable of greed run amok as his deliciously vindictive heroine returns to the North Carolina wilderness she left scarred and desecrated to make one final effort to kill the child that threatens all she has accomplished. “A gorgeous, brutal writer” (Richard Price) working at the height of his powers, Ron Rash has created another mesmerizing look at the imperfect world around us.

RON RASH is the author of the PEN/Faulkner finalist and New York Times bestselling novel Serena, in addition to the critically acclaimed novels The Risen, Above the Waterfall, The Cove, One Foot in Eden, Saints at the River, and The World Made Straight; four collections of poems; and six collections of stories, among them Burning Bright, which won the 2010 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award, Nothing Gold Can Stay, a New York Times bestseller, and Chemistry and Other Stories, which was a finalist for the 2007 PEN/Faulkner Award. Twice the recipient of the O. Henry Prize and winner of the 2019 Sidney Lanier Prize for Southern Literature, he is the Parris Distinguished Professor in Appalachian Cultural Studies at Western Carolina University and lives in Clemson, SC.

Like most of our events, this online event is free. If you decide to attend and to purchase the author’s book(s), we ask that you purchase from Malalprop’s. When you do this you are supporting our work, keeping more dollars in our community, and telling publishers they should continue sending your favorite authors to Malaprop’s. Thank you!

Please note: Nature Connects^®: Art with LEGO^® Bricks has been postponed until July; however, the exhibit will have an extended schedule and will be open until November 1. We look forward to seeing you!

The Arboretum is excited to welcome back the widely popular traveling exhibit, Nature Connects^®: Art with LEGO^® Bricks by Sean Kenney. Featuring 14 larger-than-life-size sculptures place created with nearly 500,000 LEGO Bricks, this family-friendly exhibit draws inspiration from the living world and combines art, play and science to create an inspiring intersection of education, entertainment and the environment. New sculptures include a 5-foot tall colorful peacock, giant dragonfly, bonsai tree and more!

The Fairy trail is open Monday thru Saturday, 9am-4pm. We encourage all visitors to be patient as there will be limits to the number of people allowed on the trail at the same time. While the trail is outdoors, there are some small spaces and we want to ensure our guests and fairies are safe. Please practice appropriate social distancing and bring a mask in case. Masks are not required, but are considerate in a close area. Our restrooms are not open to the public at this time. Please make arrangements prior to visiting.

Rules of the trail:

Do not move or rearrange fairy displays. The fairies are very fond of their own decorating.

Do not leave trash on the trail. Fairies do not like litter in their town.

Please ensure children and pets are supervised at all times. Dogs and loud noises can scare the fairies into hiding.

Do not disturb wildlife or vegetation. The fairies depend on the vegetation to build their homes.

The trail is one way only. Please stay on the trail at all times.

The Fairies can’t wait to see you all here!

P.S. the Fairies would like us to remind you that we are a non-profit and donations are greatly appreciated. Help us keep the fairies living in the style with which they’ve become accustomed.

Karen Salyer McElmurray won an AWP Award for creative nonfiction for her book Surrendered Child: A Birth Mother’s Journey and the Orison Award for creative nonfiction for her essay “Blue Glass.” She has had other essays recognized as “Notable Essays” in Best American Essays, while her essay “Speaking Freely” was nominated for a Pushcart Award. She currently teaches at Gettysburg College and at West Virginia Wesleyan’s Low-Residency MFA. She will be in conversation with Abigail DeWitt, author of News of Our Loved Ones. 

Like most of our events, this event is free. If you decide to attend and to purchase the author’s book(s), we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you are supporting our work and keeping more dollars in our community. Thank you!

Please note: Nature Connects^®: Art with LEGO^® Bricks has been postponed until July; however, the exhibit will have an extended schedule and will be open until November 1. We look forward to seeing you!

The Arboretum is excited to welcome back the widely popular traveling exhibit, Nature Connects^®: Art with LEGO^® Bricks by Sean Kenney. Featuring 14 larger-than-life-size sculptures place created with nearly 500,000 LEGO Bricks, this family-friendly exhibit draws inspiration from the living world and combines art, play and science to create an inspiring intersection of education, entertainment and the environment. New sculptures include a 5-foot tall colorful peacock, giant dragonfly, bonsai tree and more!

The Fairy trail is open Monday thru Saturday, 9am-4pm. We encourage all visitors to be patient as there will be limits to the number of people allowed on the trail at the same time. While the trail is outdoors, there are some small spaces and we want to ensure our guests and fairies are safe. Please practice appropriate social distancing and bring a mask in case. Masks are not required, but are considerate in a close area. Our restrooms are not open to the public at this time. Please make arrangements prior to visiting.

Rules of the trail:

Do not move or rearrange fairy displays. The fairies are very fond of their own decorating.

Do not leave trash on the trail. Fairies do not like litter in their town.

Please ensure children and pets are supervised at all times. Dogs and loud noises can scare the fairies into hiding.

Do not disturb wildlife or vegetation. The fairies depend on the vegetation to build their homes.

The trail is one way only. Please stay on the trail at all times.

The Fairies can’t wait to see you all here!

P.S. the Fairies would like us to remind you that we are a non-profit and donations are greatly appreciated. Help us keep the fairies living in the style with which they’ve become accustomed.

Buncombe County Public Libraries will be opening three additional locations for curbside pickup service, the Fairview, Leicester, and Oakley/South Asheville branches. These locations will operate from 1-5 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, in addition to our current curbside pickup service locations at the Black Mountain, North Asheville, South Buncombe, and West Asheville locations. For more information about library curbside pickup service or to place an item on hold for pickup, please call your local library or the Ask-A-Librarian line (828-250-4700) or visit buncombecounty.org/library. We hope to see you soon!

Odie Lindsey is the author of Some Go Home and We Come to Our Senses: Stories. He received an NEA fellowship for combat veterans, holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MA from the University of Mississippi, and is writer-in-residence at Vanderbilt University’s Center for Medicine, Health, and Society. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee. He will be in conversation with Chanelle Benz, author of The Man Who Shot Out My Eye Is Dead. 

Like most of our events, this event is free. If you decide to attend and to purchase the author’s book(s), we ask that you purchase from Malalprop’s. When you do this you are supporting our work and keeping more dollars in our community. Thank you!

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus), Grandfather Mountain is only selling tickets online.

Only a select number of tickets will be sold per day for certain time-slots to limit the number of guests in the park at one time, in accordance with the state of North Carolina’s phased “reopening” plan and social gathering guidelines.

Please check back closer to your visit for ticket availability. As of now, reservations are only available through June 21.

Each guest entering the park must have a ticket, which includes a time-slot. Prices are as follows:

Adult: $22
Senior (age 60+): $20
Child (ages 4-12): $9
AAA Adult: $20 (must present valid AAA card)
AAA Child: $8 (must present valid AAA card)

Please note: Nature Connects^®: Art with LEGO^® Bricks has been postponed until July; however, the exhibit will have an extended schedule and will be open until November 1. We look forward to seeing you!

The Arboretum is excited to welcome back the widely popular traveling exhibit, Nature Connects^®: Art with LEGO^® Bricks by Sean Kenney. Featuring 14 larger-than-life-size sculptures place created with nearly 500,000 LEGO Bricks, this family-friendly exhibit draws inspiration from the living world and combines art, play and science to create an inspiring intersection of education, entertainment and the environment. New sculptures include a 5-foot tall colorful peacock, giant dragonfly, bonsai tree and more!

A Virtual Summer Camp Experience – Rising 1st-2nd Grade – CO20032201

A virtual camp experience for socializing and fun for your rising 1st-2nd grader. Each day staff lead activities, crafts, and virtual field trips. Multiple sessions offered at different times throughout the day for an easy going virtual camp. Parents should enroll their children for ALL weeks they wish to attend.