This text is replaced by the Flash movie.

Natural Heritage Trail

Pisgah National Forest

The half-million+ acres of Pisgah National Forest drape like a cloak around the Asheville, North Carolina area and provide easy access to some of the most dramatic scenery and outstanding recreational opportunities in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The Pisgah National Forest is named after Mt. Pisgah, a 5,000 foot high peak located at Blue Ridge Parkway milepost 407, near the Cold Mountain of book and movie fame. The Pisgah National Forest became the first National Forest in the eastern United States in 1916.

The Pisgah National Forest offers excellent recreational opportunities year-round. Containing over a thousand miles of trails and wilderness areas, it is a hiker's dream in any season. In warmer weather, its rivers and streams of Pisgah National Forest provide excellent fishing, boating, and whitewater sports, while high mountain peaks and deep gorges call to rock climbers and mountain bikers. Camping facilities range from full service RV sites to primitive camps. In fall, Mother Nature's colorful show brings leaf-peepers by the thousands, and in winter, the snow-covered slopes in the far northeastern corner of the Pisgah National Forest beckon skiers. Three fish hatcheries in the National Forest raise more than a half million brook, brown and rainbow trout annually which are used to stock public mountain trout waters in Western North Carolina.

The Pisgah National Forest is distinguished by a number of treasured natural attractions:

Cradle of Forestry – site of America's first school of forestry
Linville Gorge and Falls – deepest gorge in the eastern United States
Looking Glass Rock – a striking mountain landmark popular with hikers and rock climbers
Mount Hardy – a 6,110 peak protected by a Wilderness Area
Pink Beds – lush forested area known for its profusion of mountain laurel and rhododendron blooms
Richland Balsam – highest peak on the Blue Ridge Parkway
Roan Mountain – five-mile ridge known for its spectacular display of rhododendron blooms
Rocky Bluff Recreation Area – a park near Hot Springs popular with hikers, anglers and campers

The Pisgah National Forest is served by four ranger districts. For maps and further information, contact:

US Forest Service Supervisor's Office
160A Zillicoa St. Asheville, NC 28802
828-257-4200
www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc

Appalachian/French Broad Ranger District
PO Box 128
Hot Springs, NC 28743
(828) 622-3202
The ranger district office is on US 25/70 in Hot Springs.

Grandfather Ranger District
Route 1, Box 110-A
Nebo, NC 28761
(828) 652-2144
Exit 90 off I-40 at Nebo/Lake James exit. The ranger district office is about 9 miles east of Marion.

Pisgah Ranger District
1001 Pisgah Highway
Pisgah Forest, NC 28768
(828) 877-3265
The ranger district office is on US 276, north of Brevard.

Appalachian/Toecane Ranger District
PO Box 128
Burnsville, NC 28714
(828) 682-6146
The ranger district office in on US 19-E bypass in Burnsville.