Wilson Center for Nature Discovery

About this museum

Halfway up one of the oldest mountains in the eastern United States, the Wilson Center for Nature Discovery occupies a position as remarkable as the stories it tells. Grandfather Mountain in Linville, North Carolina, is a place of superlatives - ancient Precambrian rock, rare endemic plant communities, a mile - high swinging bridge - and the Wilson Center brings the mountain's natural history inside with the kind of interactive depth that makes science feel like adventure.The center, located at 1104 Grandfather Mountain Entrance Road, was designed from the outset to blur the boundary between interior and exterior. Moveable walls and large banks of windows allow the surrounding forest and rock faces to become part of the exhibit itself, so that what you see through the glass contextualizes what you read on the panels beside you. More than a dozen state - of - the - art interactive exhibits explore the mountain's geology, weather patterns, plant communities, and animal life - from the southern Appalachian brook trout to the peregrine falcons that nest on the summit crags. Adjacent to the center, the Wildlife Habitats feature black bears, mountain lions, river otters, and bald eagles in naturalistic enclosures that allow close observation.With a 4.8 - star rating from nearly 60 visitors, the Wilson Center is consistently praised as one of the highlights of a Grandfather Mountain visit. That rating is well earned. This is a place where children can genuinely learn rather than merely be entertained, and where adults who thought they knew something about Appalachian ecology routinely discover they underestimated the mountain.The center is open daily from 9AM to 5PM. Admission to the Wilson Center is included with general Grandfather Mountain entry. Visit grandfather.com/wilson - center for current information and to plan your visit.