I wouldn't go way out of my way for a visit, but we had a enjoyable time here. The prices were reasonable and I was able to get a some discount coupons ($2.00 off?) from the Asheville tourism website (printables).

The drive up to the swinging bridge was a bit scary, but doable if you take your time and be careful. Once up to the parking lot for the bridge area, there was ample parking.

There was some type of construction project going on while we were there and the restaurant and whatever else the building housed was closed. It was no big deal though and I'm not sure when construction will be completed.

It was a few stairs up to the level where the swinging bridge is. None of us thought it was scary, but we did see a few people who refused to go over it. Once over the bridge, there was more sights to behold. A few more stairs up and there were rocks/boulders to climb over to get to another scenic spot. My son and husband hiked over there against my better judgment, but nobody fell off the mountain. ;-)

After we left the bridge, we drove back down to the next parking area and took one of the nature hikes. It was a nice, natural trail and it wasn't too hard for the kids. My only complaint was that some of the trails were closed. I'm not sure if it was due to the construction job or maybe it was too early in the season to be open.

The kids enjoyed the little zoo they had set up there. The animals seemed to be well taken care of and their habitat was quite large and very natural. I guess if I was an animal, I wouldn't mind living there. The kids were able to feed the bears some little dog food-like biscuits and the bears were actually quite funny how they caught the food in their mouths!

If you have kids, I'd recommend getting the Junior Ranger booklet before you start any of the mountain. My kids enjoyed going through the booklet and answering the questions. At the end of our visit, they turned their booklet in to get a Grandfather Mountain poster and Junior Ranger pin.

There were numerous places to have a picnic and we enjoyed picnicking in the mountains! It's just so beautiful!!

All-in-all it was a great visit!