Things to Do in Boone

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.

Display cases filled with diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds are a treat for the eyes at any jeweler's, but at Colburn Earth Science Museum, they dazzle visitors intellectually as well. More than 1,000 cuts from around the world make up the museum's extensive gemstone collection, which guests learn about via a gem-mine replica featuring a faux dynamite charge and gem pockets. The museum's additional exhibits showcase mineral specimens from the museum's collection of more than 4,500, as well as fossil specimens including teeth from a wooly mammoth complete with calcified floss.

Guests can take a more hands-on approach to scientific discovery during the museum's school programs and spring-break camps, which focus on subjects such as fossils, gravity, and space rocks. Voyage deeper into the galaxy during Spaced-Out Saturdays, when a digital spaceship whisks passengers on journeys throughout the solar system. After expeditions, stop by the Museum Gift Shop to pick up your own minerals or crystal-filled, 44-million-year-old geodes that museum staff can crack in half for you during your visit.

While the Hampton family owns and operates French Broad Ziplines, twin brothers Mitch and Michael Hampton have also had their personal share of ups and downs, both on the water and off. At age 10, they began exploring eastern Tennessee rivers with their grandfather, and they followed that passion for whitewater rafting into their business, which had been family-run for nearly 30 years. But then their dream was threatened. A fire swallowed the business, and the brothers lost everything. Slowly, though, with the help of family, friends, and staff, they rebuilt their company, learning patience and perseverance while finding comfort and strength in the support of their community.

Today, in addition to their traditional water-based excursions, the brothers also take to the trees on their recently constructed zipline course. Ripping through the clear mountain air, they've charted mid-air trails for zipline canopy tours that send guests soaring from tree to tree more swiftly than a caffeinated eagle. The course's eight ziplines stretch in distance from 420' to 1000', ensuring the guests have plenty of time to admire their sky-high view of the woods on adventures that also incorporate rappels, short hikes, and a rumbling jaunt on a hard-nosed utility vehicle.