When people are looking to book an Asheville vacation rental, they generally focus on the mountain views and forget about some of the other amazing offerings in the area. They might also look at the various indoor attractions throughout the city, including some of North Carolina’s most impressive restaurants. But did you know that many edible plants and mushrooms grow in the mountains and forests near Asheville?
If you’re looking for a unique way to reconnect with nature, consider booking a mountain foraging tour from one of these great companies. These tours provide an up-close look at the plants and mushrooms that grow in the area, and participants learn how to identify them and use them for food or medicine.
If you’re looking for an adventure off the beaten path, consider signing up for a mountain foraging tour!
No Taste Like Home
There’s nothing like getting out into nature and finding your own food. With No Taste Like Home, you can do just that on one of their tours. They offer a foraging tour with you wandering through forests and meadows, gathering any of over 500 edible plants depending on the season. (Guided by an expert, of course!)
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced forager, with fun tours such as What’s In My Yard and Wild Food Stroll, they have a tour that will fit your needs. You’ll get to explore the hills and learn about all the different plants and fungi that are edible. Who knows? You might even find something you’ve never seen before! So, take a break from your routine and reconnect with nature on a No Taste Like Home foraging tour. You might just be surprised at what you find.
Tours at The Omni Grove Park Inn
Are you looking for something fun and unique to do in Asheville? Why not go on a foraging tour from the group above, No Taste Like Home, but with a unique twist? Through a partnership between Omni Grove and No Taste Like Home, you can have a fun experience like no other. After you finish a foraging tour at the Omni Grove Park Inn, you can deliver your edible findings to guest services, and they will have their experts create a delicious appetizer with it.
These tours are a great way to learn about the mushrooms and other edibles that grow in our area, and you’ll also get to sample some of the things you find. The tours are offered seasonally, so be sure to check their website for the most up-to-date information.
The Wander School
Abby, the founder of The Wander School, is an expert Herbalist, Botanist, and Forager who studied botany at Miami University. This company offers tours that are a little bit different from the others on this list. Their chief short-term visit offerings are virtual botanical plant surveys and short-term apprenticeships.
With virtual plant surveys, you don’t have to live in the immediate area or meet new people. You set up a time for a Zoom meeting with Abby using your phone or tablet, find the right outdoor venue, be it the local park or right outside your door, and then the fun begins. This kind of tour is a blast for all experience levels. It gets you outside to explore the things you’ve been stepping over and around this whole time without knowing the real values.
Short-Term Apprenticeships are more in-depth (and in-person) and can be booked for one to three days depending on how in-depth you want to go and how much fun you want. Abby covers more than just basic foraging in these classes, but there is plenty of that. You’ll learn how to do wild-crafting, prepare and cook the edibles you’ve foraged, and have other botanical experiences like wilderness medicine, where you learn how to use some of the medicinal plants for salves and teas to soothe your stomach and more.
You’ll get to explore the mountains and learn about all the different plants and fungi that are edible. If you want to learn about nature while also gaining some cool new skills, then this company is for you. These Asheville foraging tours are so much fun!
Plan Your Visit
When you’re ready to visit Asheville, we’ll be here to welcome you.
Contact Pete Key to learn more!
Wild Abundance
This school offers an abundance of different classes rooted in the outdoors. They call themselves a school of permaculture and homesteading, and they mean it. They cover a wide breadth of topics that can address every element of homesteading and wilderness living, from foraging and wildcrafting to medicine making and animal hide tanning. They also have carpentry classes for timber-framing a structure and women’s basic carpentry.
While they have many different in-person and online classes to choose from, their wilderness medicine classes are always popular, and for a good reason. Using botanical skills that they’ll learn from their experts, you’ll craft infusions and salves, decoctions and cordials, tinctures, oxymels, and much more.
You’ll be able to heal cracked hands and dry skin naturally without any of the harsh and questionable chemicals or synthetic allergens. You can remedy headaches and joint pain through natural means, get rid of a pesky cough, clear up digestive issues, and more.
This is a great way to learn about the edible plants and fungi that grow in the area, and it’s also a lot of fun. You’ll get to explore the mountains and learn at the same time. These tours are definitely one of the best things to do in Asheville!
Book Your Asheville Rental with Pete Key Properties
Pete Key Properties offers a wide variety of Asheville vacation rentals, perfect for your next getaway. Whether you’re looking for a cozy stay or a luxurious experience, we have just what will suit your needs. There are so many outdoor activities in Asheville that you might be surprised at what you find, and these tours are definitely some of the best things to do in Asheville to get the most out of your Asheville rental!
No matter which of our numerous rentals you choose, you can expect features like high-speed internet, fully stocked kitchens, cozy living areas, spacious bedrooms, and beautiful views of the Asheville area. Our team is here for you from the day you book your rental until the last day of your trip. Our team members are locals who know all the best things to do in the area, so you can count on us to recommend some hidden gems!
