Research on Grandfather Mountain has confirmed the presence of 10 species of fireflies or luminous insects, including synchronous fireflies (Photinus carolinus), blue ghost fireflies (Phausis reticulata) and glowworms (Orfelia fultoni). Synchronous fireflies are habitat specialists and thrive in northern hardwood forests, such as those found at Grandfather Mountain.

These glowing wonders only appear for a few weeks each year. Our annual Grandfather Glows events open our nature park for three nights during mid-June to mid-July, the forecasted peak times, for special bioluminescent evenings, weather and conditions permitting.

The 2025 Grandfather Glows lottery is closed at this time.

The first round of lottery winners will be emailed Tuesday, May 27 at 10 a.m.

The second round of lottery winners will be emailed Tuesday, June 3 at 10 a.m.

If a lottery registrant has not been contacted by Grandfather Mountain by end of day June 3, the registrant did not win the 2025 Grandfather Glows lottery. There will be no waitlist for tickets for the event. 

Find more details about Grandfather Glows here.