Posts Tagged ‘Outdoor Recreation’
Keeping West Virginia Wild
Lovers of outdoor recreation and stunning scenery can now permanently enjoy expanded public access to the popular Gauley River. The 665 acres in Gauley River National Recreation Area acquired by West Virginia Land Trust this spring includes a gorge once intended for development. According to Brent Bailey, executive director of the land trust, “The importance…
Read MoreSouthwest Virginia is for (Outdoor) Lovers
By Amber Ellis On Sept. 13-14 in Abingdon, Va., the Appalachian Spring Initiative will host a regional expo to highlight southwest Virginia’s outdoor recreational opportunities. The initiative, which focuses on community development, has identified eight attractions as pillars of ecotourism in southwestern Virginia, including the New River, High Knob Recreation Area and the Daniel Boone…
Read MoreGood Ole Rocky Top: Trail Repair in the Smokies
By Davis Wax Leaving I-40 South near Newport, Tenn., heading down Cosby Highway, I slowed down and leaned forward over the steering wheel, watching as the late September sky disappeared behind undulations of green and blue earth. The Great Smoky Mountains loomed ahead, as did my next adventure on the Appalachian Trail, a footpath —…
Read MoreA Waterfall and a View at Bad Branch State Nature Preserve
By Dana Kuhnline Bad Branch Falls near Whitesburg, Ky., was one of the first hikes I experienced when I moved to Appalachia almost 10 years ago. I happened to be chaperoning two vans full of at-risk teenagers on a weekend trip from West Virginia to Whitesburg. The last stop before heading home was this hike.…
Read MoreEnvironmental Summer Camps — The Sequel!
Spring is here and that means it’s almost time for summer camp fun! From the coast of North Carolina to the mountains of West Virginia, there are camps tailored to young nature lovers. We’ve compiled a list of summer camps to get your kids outside, where they can meet lifelong friends and learn about protecting…
Read MorePerusing Kentucky’s Pine Mountain Park
By Joe Tennis High above Pineville, Ky., near the start of the challenging Laurel Cove Trail, an old joke straddles a rock at Pine Mountain State Resort Park. Local lore suggests that the people of Pineville were worried about the menacing-looking boulder coming loose and rolling off Pine Mountain. In the 1930s, shortly after Pine…
Read MorePlant your Feet on the Battleground
By Robert Sutherland Google “Blood Mountain” and you’ll find enough fodder for any armchair traveler. But like any other escape to the outdoors, Blood Mountain cannot be appreciated online. Named for a battle waged nearby between the Cherokee and Creek peoples, Blood Mountain is the highest peak on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia, and the…
Read MoreFriends of Smokies Receives $10,000 from REI for Trails Forever Program
The Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park have received a grant for $10,000 from the national outdoor retailer REI. The grant will benefit the Trails Forever program, which supports trail improvements throughout the park. Funds will help finance a new equipment trailer to transport tools and supplies needed for trail improvement projects. The…
Read MoreAnother Nordic Revolution
By Kristian Jackson It’s 5 a.m. and outside the truck, headlights reveal driving snow squalls and drifts as high as the pickup’s hood. Our crawl up Roaring Creek Road near the Toe River of North Carolina comes to a sudden halt in a wall of whiteness. We abandon our attempt to dig out the beast…
Read MoreBeware of Muggles: The Quest for the Geocache
Story by Maureen Halsema Space Cadet reads out the clues of the cache. While Zergle decodes the hidden message, Map Man checks the GPS. “We should be right on top of it,” Map Man says. Space Cadet scans the area as Zergle pauses to think. Where could the cacher have hidden the treasure? The hunt…
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