Burnsville Hideaway was wonderful. Our crew consisted of my wife and I, our 40 year old son, my sister and her husband.
My brother in law is already contemplating returning with his 3 sons, their wives and grandchildren. Fate intervened with Hurricane Ian transiting the Old North State during our stay. Still, we were fortunate that we experienced only some rain and cloudy skies compared to the 3 or 4 inches of rain and high winds and power outages back home. The biggest setback was that Mt Mitchell was closed on Saturday and Sunday and socked in with clouds on Monday when we finally got up there. Things to do and see. Linville Falls and Caverns. The Orchard at Altapass. Museum of NC Minerals. Little Switzerland. I enjoyed driving the "Devils' Whip" (NC 80) and the "Diamondback" (US 221-A). All of these are on or adjacent to The Blue Ridge Parkway. Do yourself a favor, slow down and stop at the overlooks and relax. The views are breathtaking. Back in Burnsville, we recommend both the "Pig & Grits" and "Bubba's Good Eats". Don't let the names fool you. These are nice restaurants with lots of menu options and really tasty food. We didn't get to check out the downtown shops. I suspect that was our loss. We also didn't get to go horseback riding. There are a couple of options there. We DID go zip-lining at Navitat Canopy Adventures. Loved it. Do it! Having said all of that, a person could just sit on the deck and gaze at the mountains all day and be happy. You can actually sit INSIDE due to the 2 story floor to ceiling windows/doors. The view is great and unbroken by trees. Okay, my wife said to bring some ice trays or buy some bags of ice on the way up. 4 wheel or all wheel drive is a good idea on the long drive up to the house. Enjoy.