Grandfather Mountain Wildlife Habitats

One of the places we have had the opportunity to visit on our adventures in North Carolina was Grandfather Mountain. Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina has great hiking trails and offers amazing scenic vistas. Grandfather Mountain also offers a great chance to see North Carolina Wildlife in its natural habitat (Zoo). Grandfather Mountain has seven environmental habitats for black bears, river otters, cougars, bald eagles, golden eagles, and white-tailed deer. The Museum and Wildlife habitats are a great place to visit when you come to Grandfather Mountain.

Directions to Trailhead: The entrance to Grandfather Mountain is located on US 221, two miles north of Linville, North Carolina, and one mile south of the Blue Ridge Parkway at milepost 305. The street address for the entrance is: 2050 Blowing Rock Highway, Linville, NC 28646. The road to the summit is referred to as Grandfather Mountain Entrance Road, Linville, NC. Once inside Grandfather Mountain follow the road to the Grandfather Mountain Nature Museum and Wildlife Habitat. For a map of the location where Grandfather Mountain is click Here. For a map of trails at Grandfather Mountain click Here.

Description of Hike: The Grandfather Mountain environmental habitats are large enclosures that allow visitors to see animals in natural settings. Unlike the exhibits found in city zoos which bring in plants and boulders to recreate an appropriate setting, these enclosures were built around the animals' actual native habitat. Viewing areas give visitors an up-close perspective of the animals as they live in the wild. Separated from the animals by moats or elevated above the habitats on large retaining walls, these viewing areas allow you to stand only a few feet away from animals you probably won't see in your everyday life. A special aquarium-like viewing area allows you to enjoy watching the playful otters above or below the water. There is a fee per person to enter Grandfather Mountain, for current costs click Here.

The pathways at the Grandfather Mountain Wildlife Habitats are well maintain with minimal elevation gain. The entire loop is less than half a mile walk. There are informative exhibits around the Grandfather Mountain Wildlife Habitat explaining about the animals. This is a fun hike in Grandfather Mountain that is enjoyable for the whole family.

Further Thoughts: We really enjoyed our visit to the Grandfather Mountain Wildlife Habitats. It was neat to see all the animals in a natural setting. The bear exhibit was probably our favorite, but a close second was when we got to see the Mountain Lions at Grandfather Mountain. We found the staff at Grandfather Mountain helpful and very friendly. For those that are interest you can also get a behind the scenes tour of the habitats, for more information click Here. There is also a foundation that supports Grandfather Mountain, for more information about the foundation click Here.

Rating: Elevation Gain: Minimal (Very Easy), Distance: 0.5 Miles (Easy).

Time to Complete Hike: 30 minutes.

FOR MORE TRAIL WRITE-UPS ON GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN

MacRae Peak

Mile High Swinging Bridge

Wildlife Habitats (This Post)


View Grandfather Mountain Wildlife Habitat (Zoo) in a larger map

Videos of Loggerhead Sea Turtles Hatching at Emerald Isle

Here are a couple of videos taken of Loggerhead Sea Turtles hatching on Emerald Isle North Carolina. Emerald Isle has a dedicated group of volunteers that watch over the nests sea turtles lay at Emerald Isle. The nest usually hatch between 50 and 70 days after they are laid.  To see our nighttime pictures of what the nighttime hatch looks like, click Here. Three days after a nest hatches the volunteers excavate the nest to see if there are any turtles that did not make it out of the nest and to count the number of turtles that hatched. These videos are from the excavation process three days after the nest hatched. This nest had between 92 and 93 turtle eggs that hatched and there were 9 sea turtles that we waiting to leave when the nest was excavated.

The United States Loggerhead Sea Turtle nesting season runs from about May to November. Nesting takes place nocturnally and at 2- to 3-year intervals. Three or four clutches may be laid in a season at intervals of approximately 12 days. Clutch size averages around 115 eggs with incubation requiring 49 to 68 days, about 55 days being average. The hatchlings generally emerge at night.

Loggerhead Sea Turtles Hatching at Emerald Isle

Sometimes things just work out right and the stars to align to see something wonderful in life. During our annual family trip to the outer-banks of North Carolina we had the opportunity to see Loggerhead Sea Turtles  Hatch and make the journey from their nest to the Atlantic Ocean. The whole event lasted about an our of waiting and was over in about 15 minutes as they went to the ocean. This particular nest had between 80 to 100 eggs hatch. The United States Loggerhead Sea Turtle nesting season runs from about May to November. Nesting takes place nocturnally and at 2- to 3-year intervals. Three or four clutches may be laid in a season at intervals of approximately 12 days. Clutch size averages around 115 eggs with incubation requiring 49 to 68 days, about 55 days being average. The hatchlings generally emerge at night. Limited information indicates that turtles reach sexual maturity in 12 to 30 years. These pictures are a little grainy, due to the fact it was dark and red lights were used to observe the turtles due to the fact they will travel toward white light, but they definitely came out great and can give you a glimpse of what these turtles look like.

North Carolina Wildlife Pictures

Here is a collection of the North Carolina Wildlife pictures that Ashley and I have seen while on our hikes in North Carolina. We continually update this section when we see more wildlife.

Loggerhead Sea Turtle Hatching at Emerald Isle, North Carolina. 

Blue Crab near Bodie Island Lighthouse. 

White Tail Deer on the Buckquarter Creek & Holden Mill Trail Loop in the Eno River State Park.

White Tail Deer on the Buckquarter Creek & Holden Mill Trail Loop in the Eno River State Park.

Toad on the Cox Mountain Trail in the Eno River State Park.

Toad on the Cox Mountain Trail in the Eno River State Park. 

Eastern King Snake on the Cedar Point Tideland Trail.

Ospreys by the Cedar Point Tideland Trail.

Fiddler Crab on the Cedar Point Tideland Trail.

Great Blue Heron by the Cedar Point Tideland Trail.

Snowy Egret by the Cedar Point Tideland Trail.

Wildlife Pictures from the Durham Museum of Life and Science

Here is a collection of Wildlife pictures from our visits to the Durham Museum of Life and Science.

American Alligator

Poison Dart Frogs

Scorpion

Tarantula

Butterfly in Butterfly Conservatory

Butterfly in Butterfly Conservatory

Frog in Butterfly Conservatory

Butterfly in Butterfly Conservatory

Butterfly in Butterfly Conservatory

Butterfly in Butterfly Conservatory

Pond Turtle

Black Bear

Endangered Red Wolf

Lemurs