Asheville, NC Outdoor Activities

The guides who founded Better Tours of Asheville draw on experience leading excursions in far-flung locations in Puerto Rico, France, and Italy. Now, they accompany groups past the basilica and other historical buildings in the town, delivering stories developed through constant research and an ability to smell fossils. The guides divulge colorful tidbits of local history during pub crawls through storied taverns with group drink specials and allude to haunting tragedies along ghost tours that occasionally yield eerie photos of orbs, wisps, and buildings an inch from where they normally are.

Moving Sidewalk Tours' knowledgeable staff turns Asheville's streets into a mobile adventure as they take small groups of Segway riders on scenic tours. Before each departure, guides train each participant on how to operate, steer, and merge consciousness with their second-generation Segway i2. They then lead groups through downtown Asheville, coasting across some of the area's current hot spots as well as historic sites. Moving Sidewalk's staff keeps Segway riders safe and comfortable throughout journeys with helmets and complementary bottles of water. They can also sell customers commemorative T-shirts or a Segway machine to give to their car as a pet.

The clopping of hooves echoes across Winding Creek Stables’ wide-open pastures and jumping arena, where a staff of ex-competitive equestrians takes a comprehensive approach to riding instruction. In private and group lessons, instructors share their wisdom about handling and technique while impressing upon students the importance of respecting their steeds. Adults and children alike can pick between the hunt-seat riding style popular at horse shows and the western style, which includes instructions for chasing down robber barons and lassoing feral cacti. Students learn to groom and care for their horses before and after the lesson—a gesture of respect to the animals and a key takeaway should novices desire to advance to competitive riding. Before riding off into the sunset, check out the stable’s other horse-related services, which include pony parties and pony rides.

Electro Bicycle Tours’s Kettler Twin electric bikes assist riders with a motor that provides extra power to match how hard they’re pedaling. Three “assist” settings allow riders to customize the added speed, from a minimal boost to a high setting that helps bikes easily mount Asheville’s hills and then laugh at them. Alternatively, riders can switch the assist off to pedal using their strength alone. Sightseers can rent the bikes to carve their own paths through the city or let someone else do the navigating on scenic tours of Asheville that include a stop at the Asheville Botanical Gardens. Electro Bicycle Tours also teams up with the Asheville Brewing Company to offer Bike and Brew capers about town.