Birding

Gorges State Park

Plunging waterfalls, rugged river gorges, sheer rock walls and one of the greatest concentrations of rare and unique species in the eastern United States are found within Gorges State Park. An elevation that rises 2,000 feet in only four miles, combined with rainfall in excess of 80 inches per year, creates a temperate rain forest and supports a collection of waterfalls.

W. Kerr Scott Reservoir Environmental Education Center

Brevard

The historic small town of Brevard is the county seat of Transylvania County, also known as "the land of the waterfalls." The community is surrounded by nature and the Pisgah National Forest.

Highlands

The town of Highlands was supposed to become a hub of commerce in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, had its founders had their way. In 1875, two developers in Kansas drew two lines--one between New York and New Orleans, the other from Chicago to Savannah. Where the lines crossed, they believed would become a crossroads of trade.

Hendersonville

Hot Springs

People have been visiting Hot Springs, a tiny village in the Blue Ridge Mountains, as a spa destination for more than 200 years. The Native Americans were the first to discover and use the warm mineral waters, followed by early traders and settlers in the latter years of the 18th century.

The Buncombe Turnpike brought more people through what was then known as Warm Springs, drovers herding thousands of cattle, hogs, horses, even turkeys, to Southern markets. What a treat it must have been to stop in Hot Springs to "take the waters" on that long, dusty hike.

Fall Foliage in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains

Black Mountain

Black Mountain, originally called "Grey Eagle," was a tiny agrarian village in the Blue Ridge Mountains until the coming of the railroad in 1879, an event that changed the face of the community forever.