141 miles NW of Charlotte; 5 miles NW of Banner Elk
Beech Mountain boasts the highest elevated ski area in the east, with a peak of 5,506 feet. It was voted the number-one ski area by readers of Blue Ridge Country, competing with the slopes in Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, and other areas of North Carolina. The Ski Beech mountain area lies on N.C. 184 along the Beech Mountain Parkway.
Beech Mountain is a resort of all seasons. You can enjoy golf, tennis, hiking, and biking in summer; or else skiing, tubing, and snowboarding -- among the best in the Southeast -- in winter.
A former hunting ground for the Cherokees, Beech Mountain was once called Klonteska, or "pheasant." The Great Trading Path that ran from Virginia to Georgia is said to have passed through Beech Mountain, and the 1864 Battle of Beech Mountain was fought here during the Civil War.
