I visited this park on the evening of Thursday, June 29th, 2023 with my girlfriend.

Technically, I am mis-representing this area in two ways: first, it is not part of Grandfather Mountain State Park, but instead the private, for-profit park in the same area. Secondly, it's not much of the park either: we started in MacRae Meadows before reconnoitering with Grandfather Mountain Entrance Rd, where we spent our evening.

We had the opportunity to participate in the second annual Grandfather Glows event, which is one of the most reliable ways to see North Carolina's synchronous fireflies in action. This rare phenomenon is observed in the early summer; it causes the lightning bugs (or fireflies) in the area to flash largely within the same 6-second window, lighting up the forest floor like a glittering Christmas snowscape. Unfortunately, our cameras were ill-equipped to capture the majesty of the event properly, but the experience was remarkable. Instead, please enjoy some pre-dusk pictures from one of the park's overlooks, as well as one mediocre video I managed to take.

Here's where we sat for the night. The best place to view the event is in darker places where there won't be much moonlight.