The best way to travel on a budget is with company and to rent cabins in Boone NC. Add another family to your trip and instead of staying in a hotel or B&B, you can now afford to rent an entire NC Blue Ridge Log Cabin.  

Travel with a few families and you can expect to afford the upscale Blue Ridge Cabin Rentals available at BLUE RIDGE FOR RENT, the premiere vacation rental company for High Country Lodging.

Here is a list of thrifty ideas for fun in the High Country as provided by The Boone Chamber!

• Hike up to 26 miles of carriage trails at Moses Cone Estate on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visit the Parkway Craft Center at Moses Cone's Flat Top Manor for a virtual gallery of the finest crafts in the country.

• Hike the trail from Price Park (Blue Ridge Parkway milepost 295) to Hebron Falls. Great picnic spots at both the Park and the Falls area (no tables at the latter). Remember to "Leave No Trace" and pack out your litter.

• Rent rowboats or canoes at Price Lake (Blue Ridge Parkway milepost 297). Walk the trail that follows the edge of the lake.

• Visit the Watauga County Farmers' Market at the Horn in the West parking lot, every Saturday, May through October, 7 a.m. until 12 noon, and on Wednesday mornings, June through August, also 7 a.m. until 12 noon. Purchase homemade goodies, fresh fruits and vegetables, and plan to have a picnic at one of the tables on the Horn in the West grounds, or at the adjacent park picnic shelter and playground.

• Catch a Concert on the Lawn, Friday evenings at 5:30, May through September, on the Jones House lawn in downtown Boone. FREE

• Visit the ducks at Broyhill Lake and hike the Glen Burney trail in downtown Blowing Rock. Romp on the playground at Memorial Park, before cooling yourself off at the ice cream parlor across the street.

• Go fishing, biking, walking and picnicking at the Valle Crucis Park. Paved paths invite cyclists and walkers alike, leading to the Watauga River banks for fishing if you like, or fish in the central pond. Picnic shelters and grills, playground equipment and ball fields provide activities for everyone. Don't miss the nearby Mast General Store while you're there!

• Visit the Trade Mill on the NC/TN state line in the Trade community. A real working mill, with playground and picnic tables on site.

• Visit The Blowing Rock attraction. Admission is only $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $1 for children 4-11, and children 3 and under are free. Snack bar, with picnic tables in various scenic spots.

• Check out the Summer Music Series on Saturday afternoons in Todd, NC, a hamlet on the county line north of Boone (Hwy. 194). Todd used to be a bustling railroad town, and still offers a fascinating old general store, bakery, delicatessen, and mercantile.

• The church frescoes in Glendale Springs, West Jefferson and Crossnore are beautiful and inspiring. Fresco trail brochures available through our office.

• Grandfather Trout Farm on Hwy. 105 in Foscoe will let you fish for free! FREE pole, tackle and bait. You pay only for what you catch! They'll clean and smoke your fish for you, too (small fee applies).

• Mystery Hill, Appalachian Heritage Museum and the Native American Artifacts Museum are on the same property, between Boone and Blowing Rock (near Tweetsie Railroad). Admission to all three is $8 for adults, $6 for children 5-12.