Hiking the Highlands
For Paddlers & Anglers, WVa.’s Elk River Offers Many Faces
West Virginia’s Elk River is a priceless treasure. From its headwaters of frigid, ground-fed springs in Pocahontas County, to its mouth at Charleston, West Virginia’s capital, the Elk transforms itself several times. At 180 miles long, the Elk is the longest river flowing entirely within West Virginia’s borders. For boaters, the first few dozen miles…
Read MoreWith Mast Down, Scout Early & Often For Whitetail
Forester Ray Boggs would like to find some ginseng behind his house, but all he sees is deer sign. That’s fine with him. This fall is special for Boggs, who has worked with the state forestry department for three decades. He planned his retirement for October, just as the fall fire season begins and archery…
Read MorePaddling In The Land Of The Noonday Sun
Have I told you about the time I and 900 of my closest friends went paddling on the Nantahala River? It all began on a sizzling hot August day when I suggested to my buddy Mark Shelley that we go kayaking on the Nantahala, located near Wesser, North Carolina. Mark, director of the Southern Appalachian…
Read MoreVirginia’s New Birding & Wildlife Trail First In Nation
They say everything is bigger and better in Texas. But Virginia’s about to change all that. The Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail may be the first state-wide wildlife-watching trail in the United States when it is finished sometime in 2004, says David Whitehurst of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. To be fair,…
Read MoreSlickrock, Waterfalls, Great Trails: Dupont Has It All
A couple of years ago word began to spread like wildfire about the great mountain biking at DuPont State Forest. Intriguing reports of a tumbling river and slickrock trails fanned the flames even higher. Over time the stories proved to be true, and judging from the number of vehicles now filling the parking lots every…
Read MoreUncrowded Fishing Fit for a Duke
Any trout fisherman who’s spent time on the water in the Southern Appalachians knows that our sport is skyrocketing in popularity. Ironically, the very qualities that draw anglers to mountain streams in record numbers — natural beauty, healthy fish populations, and the opportunity for solitude — are becoming harder to come by with every new…
Read MoreSea Kayaking On NC’s Bear Creek Reservoir
Picturesquely nestled in the Appa-lachian mountains near Cullowhee, North Carolina, Bear Creek Reservoir has become one of our favorite sea kayaking destinations. A breathtaking waterfall beckons the adventurous from its eastern end, and we’ve observed all kinds of wildlife including a variety of ducks, raptors, and one intrepid mud turtle. It’s surrounded by rolling peaks…
Read MoreTroutpacking’ In Georgia’s Cohutta Wilderness
If you look at any map of Georgia — even a broad-scale travel atlas — it appears that the Peach State is one big spaghetti platter of roads. Virtually the entire northern tier of the state is crisscrossed by highways, ranging from one-lane gravel paths to six-lane racetracks pouring out of Atlanta. Then you notice…
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