Discover Granite Falls

Granite Falls offers a variety of reasons to visit: Lakeside Park is a place for trail activities and fishing, while Baird House and the Veterans Monument provide historic points of interest. The city also hosts recurring annual events and offers municipal recreational activities. To plan your trip, start by deciding what you’re most interested in: nature and outdoor activities, history, or a particular event date. If you’re planning around an event, check the exact date in advance, as event dates can change.

Nature and outdoor activities at Lakeside Park

The city developed Lakeside Park on a 72-acre property on Lake Rhodhiss. The park has numerous trails for walking, hiking, and mountain biking. Visitors can also enjoy lakeside views, picnicking, and fishing. You can choose how to explore the park based on your interests: trail activities or things to do like picnicking and fishing. The park also has an ADA-compliant accessible fishing pier.

Naming and history

The Falls at Gunpowder Creek are open to visitors, and Granite Falls is named after them. Baird House, the second-oldest house in Caldwell County, offers another point of historical interest. The house is home to the Granite Falls History and Transportation Museum, located at 107 Falls Avenue in Granite Falls. While the falls explain the city’s name, the house’s age places it in the historical context of Caldwell County.

The Granite Falls Veterans Monument bears the names of 600 veterans honorably discharged from military service; it also lists 32 veterans who died in service. The inscriptions can be updated. A Veterans Day Ceremony is held at the monument each November.

Events and recreational activities

Annual events include the “Art in the Park” concert on the third Monday in May and Festival on Main, organized by the Granite Falls Merchants’ Association, on the third Saturday in September. Both dates are subject to change. If one of these events is a key reason for your trip, check the exact date in advance. The annual Veterans Day Ceremony in November is another commemorative event held at the monument. Thus, in addition to the two events, the calendar includes a separate occasion for the community to remember together at this location later in the year.

The municipal recreation program offers children soccer, basketball, baseball, softball, tee-ball, volleyball, indoor soccer, a playground, holiday camps, tennis, and swimming. Adult recreation options include fitness rooms, exercise classes, swimming, tennis, and a walking track and hiking trails. The William B. Shuford Recreation Center has a swimming pool, fitness rooms, tennis courts, and a gymnasium. Individual program offerings may vary by season.

Discover more destinations: Lenoir.

View the broader travel guide: Caldwell County.