Classroom » Field Trips
Field trip opportunities in Buncombe County
- Asheville Art Museum
- Through works of art in permanent and special exhibition, students will learn about the rich history of visual arts in North Carolina.
- Format: article/field trip opportunity
- Biltmore Estate: Discover the Destination
- Includes a selection of Biltmore Estate images, virtual tours, and activities for kids. Limited historical information is found on this website.
- Format: article/field trip opportunity
- Blue Ridge Parkway
- Contains information about various cultural, natural, and recreational resources located along this beautiful and historical roadway.
- Format: article/field trip opportunity
- Blue Ridge Parkway Folk Art Center
- Students will enjoy visiting the folk art center and learning about the heritage of the southern Appalachian mountain people.
- Format: article/field trip opportunity
- Center for Diversity Education
- The CDE is entirely curriculum-focused to assist teachers in embedding a knowledge base of many peoples into the daily content of the classroom in grades K-12. It is the mission of CDE to prepare all students with the necessary skills to maintain a pluralistic democracy in an increasingly complex and diverse nation and world.
- Format: article/field trip opportunity
- Colburn Earth Science Museum
- The best rock and mineral specimens from the Burnham Standish Colburn collection are housed in the Colburn Earth Science Museum. Students will enjoy the programs that are centered around this collection of fossils, gems, and North Carolina minerals.
- Format: article/field trip opportunity
- The Health Adventure: A Health and Science Education Museum
- Features information about the museum and its exhibitions. Teachers will find a free lesson plan for 4th and 5th graders about world climate change, reservations for school classes, and downloadable teacher visiting guide.
- Format: article/field trip opportunity
- Long Branch Environmental Education Center
- This educational center teaches students the importance of recycling, resource conservation, ecological issues, and more.
- Format: article/field trip opportunity
- North Carolina Arboretum
- A wide variety of classes and workshops are provided to students at the NC Arboretum, ranging from bonsai demonstrations to nature walks.
- Format: article/field trip opportunity
- North Carolina Homespun Museum
- Visit the North Carolina Homespun Museum and see crafts, photographs and other memorabilia from the Biltmore Industries of yesteryear.
- Format: article/field trip opportunity
- The Old Depot Association
- The museum provides exhibits that honor the local and mountain heritage and crafts. A photographic exhibit in the Caboose Museum shows the pictures of the history of the depot and has railroad memorabilia and music of the era.
- Format: article/field trip opportunity
- Smith-McDowell House Museum
- Discover Asheville's first mansion and oldest surviving structure, now restored as a history museum.
- Format: article/field trip opportunity
- Thomas Wolfe Memorial (NC Historic Site)
- Thomas Wolfe wrote fiction and used the setting of his mother's boardinghouse in Asheville, NC in his autobiographical novel Look Homeward, Angel. The house is now the location of The Thomas Wolfe Memorial. Read a biography of Wolfe on this website and learn about visiting the memorial.
- Format: article/field trip opportunity
- Vance Birthplace (NC Historic Site)
- Learn about the birthplace of Zebulon Baird Vance and his famous mountain family on this site.
- Format: article/field trip opportunity
- Western North Carolina Nature Center
- Like a field trip into the western North Carolina outdoors, this site will introduce you to the plants, animals and environs of the Southern Appalachians.
- Format: article/field trip opportunity
- YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly
- Learn about the wildlife of the mountains and practice using a compass at this conference center located outside of Asheville, NC.
- Format: article/field trip opportunity
- YMI Cultural Center
- This cultural center was created to preserve the visual and performing arts heritages of African-Americans and other minorities. The Center has an art gallery with over 100 works of art from renowned artists such as Elizabeth Catlett, Romare Bearden, John Biggers. It also offers art classes to all age groups.
- Format: article/field trip opportunity
Learn more about Buncombe County
Records 1–20 of 23 displayed: go to page 1, 2
- Allanstand Cottage Industries product display
- Pine needle basketry, cornhusk dolls, cane-bottom chairs, and rustic brooms are displayed in front of a hanging coverlet in this photograph depicting the crafts for sale at the Allanstand Cottage Industries during the 1920s and early 1930s. The image may have...
- Format: image/photograph
- Allanstand Cottage Industries salesroom interior
- Used for the Allanstand Cottage Industries publicity, this photograph shows the types of wares that were sold in the shop in the 1920s. Baskets of all shapes and sizes are displayed on the floor in front of a glass case with smaller baskets and pottery in...
- Format: image/photograph
- Asheville, NC, seen from above

- This is downtown Asheville, North Carolina, as seen from an airplane.
- Format: image/photograph
- Biltmore Estate
- In North Carolina in the New South, page 5.1
- George Washington Vanderbilt inherited a tremendous sum of money and used it to build a massive house and grounds near Asheville.
- Format: article
- Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC

- This is an aerial shot of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. The huge Biltmore House, containing over ninety rooms, is the former residence of the Vanderbilt family and is preserved much as it appeared during their lifetimes.
- Format: image/photograph
- The Biltmore Forest School
- In North Carolina in the New South, page 4.8
- The pioneering Biltmore Forest School emerged from George Vanderbilt's desire for scientific management of the forests around Biltmore Estate.
- Format: article
- Blue Bells

- This photograph was used for obtaining orders for bed spreads. On the verso of the photograph is written, “Blue Bell, All Prices 66"–68" $25.00 each, 72"–76" $25.00 to 28.00 each All these have pillow runners with spreads. Please return promptly...
- Format: image/photograph
- Buck Hotel, Asheville

- In this 1888 photograph, the Buck Hotel can be seen in the background at left.
- Format: image/photograph
- Buncombe County Turnpike: GIS map

- The Buncombe Turnpike through North Carolina's mountains was built between 1824 and 1828 along the Drovers' Road, so called, because drovers used the road to lead herds of animals (droves) to market. The Turnpike was an important road until the 1880s, when...
- Format: image/map
- The Buncombe Turnpike
- In North Carolina in the New Nation, page 7.6
- The Buncombe Turnpike began in the early nineteenth century as the Drover's Road through western North Carolina, used to drive livestock to market. The Turnpike brought trade and increased prosperity to the region and especially to Asheville. After the Civil War, economic recession and the rise of railroads led to its decline.
- Format: article
- Buried trolley tracks salvaged to aid war program

- Caption read, "Removing abandoned trolley tracks to provide much needed scrap for Uncle Sam. Here, in Asheville, North Carolina, a local inventor demonstrates his 'railjerk' for doing the trick. He claims his device, employing three men, can pry loose a mile...
- Format: image/photograph
- Frances Goodrich with Double Bow Knot coverlet
- This photograph of Frances Louisa Goodrich was taken in 1943. She is standing in front of two woven coverlets that are hanging on a wall. The Double Bow Knot pattern coverlet is on the left and on the right is a coverlet in the Pine Cone Bloom pattern. Beneath...
- Format: image/photograph
- Grove Park Inn

- Format: image/photograph
- The lights of Asheville seen through trees

- These are the lights of Asheville seen through trees at night. This photo was taken from Chestnut Mountain. Asheville is the largest city in Western North Carolina.
- Format: image/photograph
- Rattlesnakes at the Western North Carolina Nature Center

- This is an Eastern Diamondback and a Timber Rattlesnake in a display at the Western North Carolina Nature Center in Asheville, North Carolina.
- Format: image/photograph
- Rays of sun over Buncombe County, NC

- Rays of afternoon light filter through the clouds above Buncombe County, North Carolina. Buncombe County is located in the midst of the Appalachian Mountains.
- Format: image/photograph
- Sanitariums
- In North Carolina in the New South, page 5.8
- In the late nineteenth century, sanitariums were built to house patients with tuberculosis, which was the leading cause of death in the United States. Western North Carolina's climate made it the perfect location for sanitariums.
- Format: article
- A snowy night at the Botanical Gardens in Asheville

- This is a night shot of the Botanical Gardens in Asheville in the snow. The gardens are located near the University of North Carolina at Asheville.
- Format: image/photograph
- A view of the French Broad River near Asheville, 1883

- Eastern side of French Broad River near previous site of Smith's Bridge, 1883.
- Format: image/illustration
- The Walton War
- In North Carolina in the New Nation, page 1.8
- Poor and inaccurate surveying led to border disputes between North Carolina and its neighbors. In December 1804, a battle was fought over an area claimed by both North Carolina and Georgia.
- Format: article