The Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) has opened for its 50th season with river and aerial adventures along with new courses and new food and beverage venues on their 500-acre Bryson City campus.
The full range of land and water activities include guided whitewater rafting, ducky and raft rentals, mountain top zip line tours, mountain biking, and multiple ropes courses for patrons. The Outfitter has also opened their other outpost locations for trips on the French Broad, Chattooga, Ocoee, Pigeon, and Chattahoochee Rivers seeing exponentially increasing demand.
NOC’s renowned Paddling School has been growing in popularity over the last year, from new paddlers looking to take introductory courses to kayak enthusiasts seeking to expand their skills in special new workshops like River Running. SOLO Southeast, NOC’s wilderness school, continues to fill its wilderness first aid and survival courses as the demand in the outdoor industry increases.
The food and beverage offerings at NOC’s main campus continue to innovate and expand with the opening of two new venues on its Bryson City campus. Slow Joe’s will serve hot coffee, freshly made donuts, and ice cream to visitors in the gorge out of a completely renovated shuttle bus. Little Wesser will offer multiple craft beers on draught and creative beer blends exclusively from New Belgium Brewery out of Asheville. River’s End Restaurant, Nantahala’s Gastropub will continue to host patrons with limited indoor seating and takeout with new and classic favorites. Big Wesser Riverside Pub reopens this weekend with a new menu, elevated cocktail list, and beer.
NOC will be bringing back live music and events this season after a year hiatus, hosting local and regional bands and entertainment on weekends and peak days through summer and fall. The schedule will be posted on the website, as well as on the NOC Facebook page.
Lastly, NOC will kick off its first of a series of pop-up dinner events called Relia’s Lost Kitchen in late May with a sold-out Orin Swift Wine Dinner. The series will offer five course meals served with pairings from local or national wine, bourbon, and beer makers starting this month through October. Space is limited and tickets must be pre- purchased online.
Visit noc.com for additional information.
Prepared by Nantahala Outdoor Center.