Tweetsie Railroad

300 Tweetsie Railroad Ln., Blowing Rock
828/264-9061
www.tweetsie.com [1]

HOURS: June–Aug. daily 9 a.m.–8 p.m.,
May and Sept.–Nov. Fri.–Sun. 9 a.m.–6 p.m.

COST: $30 adults, $22 children 3–12, free children under 3

Tweetsie Railroad is a Wild West theme park in the heart of the South. The park was designed around the historic steam locomotive, Number 12, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The locomotive departs from the Main Street station and follows a three-mile section of track around the park while actors wearing Wild West attire stage a performance in the train cars.

The 30-acre theme park also has rides, carnival games, and possibly the largest selection of cotton candy and funnel cake in the state. Ride the chair lift to Miner’s Mountain, where goats, deer, burrows, emus, miniature horses, potbellied pigs, and llamas roam in the petting zoo.

The park also has stations for old-fashioned gem mining and gold panning and live shows throughout the afternoon.