County seat or resort village
Boone or Blowing Rock
Last updated October 15, 2026.
| Fact | Boone | Blowing Rock |
|---|---|---|
| County | Watauga | Watauga |
| Setting | County seat in the Blue Ridge, on the South Fork New River | A ridge village where the Blue Ridge drops toward the Piedmont |
| Elevation | 3,333 feet, the widely published town elevation | Ridge-top resort town. Sources disagree, so no single number is used here. |
| Incorporated | 1872 | 1889 |
| 2020 census | 19,092 | Not listed |
They're linked by U.S. 321, with Tweetsie Railroad between them. A weekend can use both. The choice is about which one you wake up in.
Boone
Watauga County seat, incorporated in 1872, published elevation 3,333 feet, 19,092 residents in the 2020 census. Appalachian State University, King Street, groceries, a hospital, and the roads toward Banner Elk. There is no ski resort inside town. Appalachian Ski Mountain is in Blowing Rock.
Blowing Rock
A smaller village incorporated in 1889, named for the cliff where updrafts can return light objects. The overlook charges admission. Moses Cone's carriage trails and Price Lake are on the Parkway at the edge of town. The village is the walk. October fills it with sweaters and slow traffic.
How to choose
Stay in Boone if you want services and more kinds of lodging. Stay in Blowing Rock if you want to walk a village and be next to the Parkway. For the higher skiing, at Beech or Sugar, Banner Elk is the more honest base than either of these two.