After driving all the way out to the east coast from California in an RV to see our high-risk parents during the pandemic, we figured we’d spend some extra time with family. My sister and her family have been co-quarantining … Read More
Our family has visited a lot of national parks together (over 40 in the US, in fact). And Yosemite National Park is popular for a reason – there’s just something special and magical about it. There are so many wonderful … Read More
Our public school officially starts today. I can hardly believe it! The summer flew by. And I also can’t believe I’m looking into options for homeschooling for beginners. Why We Decided to Homeschool When our school district announced last month … Read More
After being thrown into distance learning in the spring, we, like many of you, found that we needed to either purchase or replenish some homeschool supplies. Our schooling starts next week, and I’ve been thinking about which items were most … Read More
I can’t count how many of you fell in love with Juana and Lucas after reading it for the Global Children’s Book Club. While the other two global chapter books for the 2020 summer book club are also delightful, they’re … Read More
We’ve been really fortunate in the Bay Area to explore outdoors a ton. There are truly endless options for hikes, views, nature trails, and more. We’ve been hiking weekly for the last four months or so and still haven’t run … Read More
This summer is so strange, and also has had a few unexpected gifts. We’ve loved our experience RVing across the country to safely see family, and are looking forward to some outdoor, distanced adventures on the way back home. In … Read More
Wondering what to take when hiking with kids? Here’s our ultimate kids hiking gear packing list! We loved hiking long before we ever had kids. Since we both spent young years in places with mountains as well as fantastic and … Read More
This post on the best age for Harry Potter books contains affiliate links, but all opinions are 100% my own. That means I earn a small commission if you purchase through my link, but doesn’t change your price. I’m … Read More
Growing up, both my husband and I were giant math nerds. It came fairly naturally to me, but more than that, I really enjoyed it! So it’s definitely a priority to me to help my kids enjoy math, too, by … Read More
Welcome to CHINA for the Global Children’s Book Club! Today we’ll be going on a virtual tour of China for kids. Get ready for a fun and inspiring China virtual field trip – perfect for global education at home or … Read More
I wrote previously about why we started RVing with kids, and also the safety considerations when putting car seats in RVs. Our research made us feel comfortable that if we could meet those safety requirements and follow all of our … Read More
After driving all the way out to the east coast from California in an RV to see our high-risk parents during the pandemic, we figured we’d spend some extra time with family. My sister and her family have been co-quarantining with my parents, so we knew it was safe to spend some extra time with them. We figured it was a perfect opportunity for a little family getaway to Asheville with kids.
We knew we wanted to pop down to some National Forest area, but wanted access to downtown, as well, for some great food. So we decided to rent an Airbnb with strict cleaning protocols together to explore some outside-focused activities.
Our Asheville trip was relaxing and active and perfect for spending a lot of time outside with kids – and a pup! My brother-in-law found a so many amazing options through his research that were kid-friendly and also dog-friendly (since they brought their beautiful husky along). We loved our time there and hope this info is helpful to you, too!
This post on visiting Asheville with kids contains affiliate links, but all opinions are 100% my own. That means I earn a small commission if you purchase through my link, but doesn’t change your price.
We stayed in a gorgeous Airbnb on the outskirts of town in Mars Hill. We really loved the home where we stayed – it was lovely, there was no one else around, and the scenery was top notch. Still, it wasn’t the most convenient to all the things to do in Asheville with kids. If you’re looking for a kid-friendly and pet-friendly home rental, it’s a great choice.
Otherwise, some other good options are the SpringHill Suites, the Hampton Inn, the Fairfield Inn, the Homewood Suites, or the Best Western. Here are some other fantastic options!
Asheville weather varies quite a bit by season. For a summer visit that’s full of water play and hiking, here were some essentials for us:
Asheville has some fantastic food! We didn’t even scratch the surface of the places on our list but we hope you’re able to enjoy some of them, too!
These Asheville waterfall hikes were the highlight of our visit. We loved all of them and highly recommend finding some Asheville swimming holes if you visit during warm weather! Unfortunately, none of these hikes we found are wheelchair-accessible. If you find some great ones that are, please let me know!
Distance: 2.1 miles
Elevation: 305 ft
This is a gorgeous and short hike to a really beautiful waterfall. There’s a bit of mild elevation gain, but totally doable for even younger kiddos. The rocks at the falls are fun to climb but be careful because they can get slippery. There’s a nice little pool for wading at the bottom of the falls, too! The hike is about half an hour east of downtown Asheville and has a large parking area.
Note: the linked website says it’s 2.7 miles RT, while AllTrails says it’s 2.1 miles. Our mileage showed in line with the latter.
Distance: 0.9 miles
Elevation: 187 ft
A very short hike with little elevation gain, you’ll be rewarded with lots of fun water play. There are several pool areas, with a smaller pool for younger kids to play. There’s a bridge going across the creek (hold onto little ones tight, especially since there’s only a railing on one side!) that will take you to a deeper pool.
On that side, we loved jumping off the rock into the pool (about 7-8 feet high), even though the water was freezing!! Our 9 and 7 year olds who are strong swimmers were fine jumping on their own. Our 5 year old is also a good swimmer and jumps off diving boards just fine. But this was high and different enough that he felt more comfortable jumping into my husband who was in the water, which worked fine. Even our 2 year old jumped off a smaller rock to his dad in the water!
It was raining when we went, so not many others were around. This one is very popular, though, and gets crowded on warm and sunny days (the parking lot was overflowing when we saw it the next day). About 45 minutes southwest of Asheville.
Distance: 2.9 miles
Elevation: 187 ft
This was possibly our favorite hike of the three we did. While the lower falls were crowded, we were the only ones at the upper falls for the majority of the time we were there. The kids loved sliding down the rocks (be very careful of the wet parts as they get extremely slick!), and we enjoyed splashing in the pools. The water is cold, so beware, but overall, it’s so fun and really beautiful. Just under an hour southwest of Asheville.
Asheville has so many wonderful, family-friendly outdoor activities! We spent 4 days there and are already itching to go back. Here are some other great options if hiking isn’t your thing!
This post has tons of other outdoor activities in Asheville with kids!
