You’ve heard the phrase “take a hike,” and that’s exactly what thousands of people are doing this weekend in Damascus, Virginia. They’re hiking the Appalachian Trail to attend the 27th annual Appalachian Trail Days. If you’re wondering just how many hikers will be visiting this weekend, organizers say they’re expect to see 15,000...
Learn MoreThe Blue Ridge Parkway is a wildflower lover’s paradise, offering a huge variety of native species during spring, summer and fall. Depending on your elevation and north/south orientation, some species can be found blooming over a considerably long period of time. This list is a highlight of some of the most popular wildflowers, their usual months in bloom and...
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FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway (FRIENDS) has launched a two-year 25th anniversary celebration commemorating the volunteer-driven organization’s founding in North Carolina in 1988 and in Virginia the following year. “We believe the best way to celebrate a quarter century of service to the Blue Ridge Parkway is with a renewed commitment to America’s...
Learn MorePlanners on both sides of the Blue Ridge are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. They’re inspired by work students at the University of Virginia have done to reopen a historic railroad passage through the mountain. Those students presented plans to preserve the Blue Ridge Tunnel, engineered by Claudius Crozet and opened in 1858. A nonprofit foundation has worked...
Learn MoreA new multi-use trail is open in Albemarle County, VA. The county celebrated the opening of the Old Mills Trail on November 16th. New upgrades make Old Mills Trail safer. The upgrades have been in the works for over 10 years. Things have been cleaned up and bridges have been added to make historic sites easier to navigate. Hundreds of volunteers have worked on the Old...
Learn MoreThere’s an amazing story of survival following the recent discovery of military plane wreckage in the Sierra National Forest. A California schoolteacher out on a hike came across the scattered plane pieces. Reverend Jon Harris of Roanoke somehow managed to survive on a wing and a prayer that day and now this Virginia preacher shares a spiritual bond with the...
Learn MoreHurricane Sandy has affected the mountains of North Carolina and Virginia, bringing snow, rain, and extreme wind, forcing closure of most sections of the Parkway. Until the weather improves and cleanup is completed, travel on the Parkway is not advised. The National Park Service is asking motorists to avoid traveling on the Blue Ridge Parkway over the next several days...
Learn MoreA new cycle of vista clearing projects begins this month on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The projects include cutting trees, shrubs, brush, briars and vines within specified depths to provide vistas with clear and unobstructed views. This upcoming round of work sees the implementation of a revised maintenance plan for vistas intended to lessen the impact on native species,...
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Shenandoah National Park may be the world’s most beautiful highway right-of-way. This park in central Virginia stretches for 105 miles along the Blue Ridge Mountains from Waynesboro north to Front Royal, flanking the Skyline Drive, a scenic byway that connects with the Blue Ridge Parkway. But there’s more to Shenandoah National Park than a pretty drive. Nearly...
Learn MoreThe Girl Scouts of America is marking their 100th year by hiking the Appalachian Trail in sections, making sure that every mile of the more than 2,100-mile trail is covered by at least one Girl Scout. According to the trip leaders, getting Girl Scouts outdoors has become more of a challenge in recent years – not because of a lack of interest, but because young...
Learn MoreVast national forest areas and scattered pockets of undeveloped lands in West Virginia and Virginia are among the regions that would be resilient to drought, rising temperatures and other threats associated with climate change, according to a study released by The Nature Conservancy. The study identifies “strongholds” that could provide habitat to a variety...
Learn MoreCurrently only one trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway, at the Folk Art Center, is designated as accessible according to the Americans with Disabilities Act. The BRP Foundation is funding two projects this year to make more trails on the parkway accessible; one at Price Lake in the Julian Price Park in North Carolina and another at Abbot Lake at the Peaks of Otter in...
Learn MoreTerrain360.com is an interactive trail companion providing 360 degree panoramic tours of some of the most beautiful terrain in and around Virginia. After an incredible day of hiking and kayaking down one of Virginia’s finest waterways, the founding partners of Terrain360.com beached themselves on an island and began brainstorming over what would perhaps become the most...
Learn MoreThis is the U.S. Naval Academy’s idea of spring break: a 70-mile march along the craggy spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in a sesquicentennial tribute to Confederate Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson and his torturous Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Fourteen midshipmen forsook Cancun and Panama City last month for a five-day slog along the Appalachian Trail, eating peanut...
Learn MoreThe Blue Ridge Parkway was recently selected for inclusion in Rand McNally’s Best of the Road program based on submission materials prepared by the Blue Ridge Parkway Association in collaboration with Parkway staff. National Parks Traveler has created its newest guide to the Blue Ridge Parkway in a collection of National Parks Traveler’s Essential Park...
Learn MoreWinter can be a deceptively great time to take a hike in Shenandoah, Great Smoky Mountains, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and many other national parks. Why? Along with fewer folks out on the trails, winter in the Southern Appalachians brings the year’s clearest distant views. The lack of leaf cover often reveals things you otherwise might not see during the summer...
Learn MoreThe twelfth annual “Hike for the Hardy” on the Brushy Hills trail system west of Lexington, VA is planned for Saturday, February 18th, starting at 10:00 a.m. Area residents will have an opportunity to enjoy the natural beauty of Lexington’s 560-acre Brushy Hills woodlands during the traditional late-winter hike sponsored and led by members of the Friends of Brushy Hills....
Learn MoreThe Town of Purcellville Parks and Recreation Department is pleased to announce the opening of a new hiking trail through the Suzanne Kane Nature Preserve connecting 21st Street and Hatcher Avenue. The trail will be dedicated with a ribbon cutting on Sunday, October 30, 2011 at 1:30pm at the Hatcher Avenue trail entrance. The trail was envisioned by the Purcellville...
Learn MoreAugie Buchheit travels light. In fact, he carries everything he needs to survive in his 22-pound backpack. As a “ridgerunner” employed by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, he is in charge of hiking 112 miles of trail through Shenandoah National Park from May to September. While the park’s traditional rangers serve as law enforcement or nature “interpreters,” Augie...
Learn MoreFrom the Blue Ridge Mountains to dense piedmont forests to the tranquil coastal waters of the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia is the ideal place for people looking to step away from the stress of everyday life and relax and reconnect with loved ones and nature this fall. Virginia’s topography welcomes all types of outdoor recreation – from camping to hiking to water...
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Most people think of Skyline Drive, or the mountains that overlook Shenandoah Valley when they imagine Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. But my favorite hike during a visit in early autumn was the Cedar Run, Whiteoak Circuit that starts at milepost 45.6 on the SD. It’s a brute of a hike, but well worth the effort exerted for the combinations of creeks and...
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I am Jeff Clark, founder of Internet Brothers, producer of this blog, and passionate about hiking. My regular hiking companions have designated me the lead hiker, so I suppose that makes me the slowest Meanderthal. I live in Western NC near the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are just out my door, so the content will focus on these areas, but let me know what you would like to see on the site. 
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