Discover Mt Airy: Mayberry, Music and Nature

When planning a trip to Mt Airy, you can tailor your stay to different interests: the town’s connection to Andy Griffith and Mayberry, music and events, or trails and river access. These themes offer practical starting points for planning your trip and searching for a hotel in Mt Airy.

Andy Griffith, Mayberry, and Mayberry Days

Mount Airy was Andy Griffith’s hometown during his childhood and inspired Mayberry in the popular 1960s sitcom “The Andy Griffith Show.” Mayberry Days celebrates the series in Mount Airy. The TV connection is reflected both in the town’s ties to Griffith and Mayberry and in an event dedicated to the show. If you want to plan your trip around Mayberry Days, check the event dates as you make your plans.

The Mount Airy Visitors Center can arrange squad car tours and trolley tours. If one of these tours is part of your itinerary, contact the center in advance to ask about options during your stay.

Music history at the Historic Earle Theatre

The Historic Earle Theatre was built in 1938 by the partnership of Earl Q. Benbow and Percy A. Boone and is home to the Old-Time Music Heritage Hall. The theater hosts films, concerts, and presentations. This brings architectural history, a connection to music, and various types of events together in one place. While the Andy Griffith connection highlights Mount Airy’s ties to a sitcom, the Earle Theatre offers a distinct way to experience the town through music and culture.

If you want to attend a particular film, concert, or presentation, include the event calendar in your trip planning. This lets you match your theater visit to a program that suits you, rather than deciding solely on the building’s historic significance.

Greenway, river, and trails

Riverside Park offers access to the Greenway as well as a canoe and boat launch on the Ararat River. This gives you two distinct options for planning your visit: access to the trail and a river launch. The Granite City Greenway System has several access points along the route for pedestrians, parking, and boats. These access options can help you decide how to plan your visit, depending on whether you’ll arrive on foot, by car, or by boat.

Westwood Park has 1.5 miles of nature trails, including 0.8 miles of gravel trail and 0.7 miles of paved trail. The gravel section is therefore slightly longer than the paved section. These figures make both the total distance and the different surfaces clear, providing a practical point of comparison when choosing trails for your stay. Unlike the access points on the Greenway System, this information refers to the nature trails in Westwood Park.

Self-guided walking tour of downtown

The Historic Walking Tour is a self-guided walking tour of downtown Mount Airy. It complements the individual cultural attractions with an opportunity to explore downtown on foot. When planning, you can distinguish it from a visit to the Historic Earle Theatre or a guided tour: here, the focus is on a self-guided walk. Along with the parks and trails, this gives you a range of activities to choose from based on the focus of your stay.

Explore more destinations: Pinnacle, Elkin, Dobson

Go to the main travel overview: Surry County.