 A Sense of the Mountains: Impressions and Inspirations
The Appalachian mountains are some of the oldest mountains in the world. The smooth, rounded profiles have been sculpted by thousands of years of weather and erosion.
These ancient battered and misty mountains seem to have fostered our eastern mountain folklore and folk life.
These mountains are the reason why Mountain Construction Enterprises, Incorporated chooses to build the kind of homes that both complement and preserve the community character that is so rich in culture and tradition in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee.
The concept for the Grandfather National
Scenic Area (GNSA) was borne from an
ill-conceived Forest Service logging project
in the Pisgah National Forest one mile south
of Blowing Rock, NC. What followed was an
unprecedented response from the
community--over 1,800 citizens submitted
comments to the agency opposing the project.
The Blowing Rock Town Council followed suit
and called for the creation of the
Grandfather National Scenic Area in a
unanimous resolution. Boone's City Council
and the Watauga County Commission also
passed similar unanimous resolutions.
Working with the community, Wild South and
the Southern Environmental Law Center helped
draft proposed language for a bill that
would set aside 25,500 acres of Pisgah
National Forest as a National Scenic Area.
The proposed Grandfather National Scenic
Area lies across the 5th and 10th
Congressional Districts, with the majority
of the area found in Caldwell and Avery
Counties. Economists agree that the
Grandfather National Scenic Area
designation, while costing taxpayers
nothing, would provide a significant boost
to the local economy.
Website: GNSAforNC.com
Email:
GNSAforNC@gmail.com
Tell your Congressperson you support the
GNSA! See GNSAforNC.com for contact
information and other ways to support the
GNSA.
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Linville Falls and Gorge
The 10,975-acre
wilderness of Linville Gorge is the deepest
gorge east of the Mississippi. |
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Grandfather Mountain
The second highest peak
in the Blue Ridge range with some of the oldest
formations in the world, the mountain stands at
5,964 feet above sea level. |
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Brown Mountain Lights
Brown Mountain is on
the border of Burke and Caldwell Counties and is
a long, low-lying mountain in the Blue Ridge
Foothills. For about 800 years ghostly lights
have been seen flaring and creeping along and
below the ridge at night. |
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Mount Mitchell
In the Crest of the Black
Mountain chain lies the highest peak east of the
Mississippi, standing 6,684 feet, Mount Mitchell
showcases some of the most spectacular views of
the Blue Ridge Mountains. |
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Mountain to Sea Trail
A 900+ mile trail that
spans across NC from the TN line in the great
Smoky Mountains National Park to the coast at
Jockey's Ridge State Park. |
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Beacon Heights Trail
The Beacon Heights trail
is a section of the Mountain to Sea Trail (MST)
that begins at the Greentown Trail parking area
on NC 181 in Burke County. Numerous waterfalls
can be seen from this trail and several more are
short hikes from the trail. |
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Linn Cove Viaduct
All but 7.5 miles of the
Blue Ridge Parkway were completed in 1967; the
last section that runs along the backside of
Grandfather Mountain was not completed until 20
years later in 1987. The feat was to preserve
one of the oldest mountains in the world while
building a road that sits at an elevation of
4,100 feet; the result was the Linn Cove Viaduct
at milepost 304.6, the most complicated concrete
bridge ever built. |
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Table Rock Mountain & Hawksbill Mountain
These mountains are in Burke County and overlook
the spectacular Linville Gorge. Both Mountains
have easy access off of Hwy 181 and provide
visitors with some great hiking opportunities. |
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Sitting Bear Mountain
Sitting Bear Mountain
is located on the eastern rim of Linville Gorge,
between Gingercake Mountain and Hawksbill
Mountain. The huge and fascinating rock
monolith, from which Sitting Bear is named, is
almost a vertical column of rock. Experienced
rock climbers are welcome to climb the rock. |
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Blue Ridge Parkway
The Parkway follows the
Appalachian Mountain chain and provides
seemingly endless views of many parallel ranges
connected by cross ranges and scattered hills. |
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Lake James
Tucked away in rolling hills at
the base of Linville Gorge is Lake James, a
6,510 acre lake with more than 150 miles of
shoreline. |
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New River
The New River is the second oldest
river in the world and one of the few that flow
north. The river collects its headwaters and
begins high in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Ashe
and Alleghany Counties, NC. |
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Watauga Lake
The third-cleanest lake in
America, Watauga Lake beckons water enthusiasts.
The lake is located just 45 minutes from Boone,
NC. The 6,430 acre lake has about 100 miles of
shoreline. |
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Mt Rogers
The trails of Mt. Rogers are some
of the most beautiful in the Eastern US. Mount
Rogers is the highest elevation in Virginia
(5,729 feet) and is located near the tri-state
boundary. |
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Grayson Highlands State Park
The road into
Grayson takes hikers to a parking lot at Massie
Gap that's 4,200 feet above sea level. The
4,935 acre Grayson Highlands State Park
showcases the natural beauty of waterfalls,
spruce-fir forests, igneous rock outcroppings,
native trout streams, rugged mountains, and high
alpine meadows with panoramic vistas of valleys
below. |
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Three Top Mountain
Three Top Mountain is
named for the three rock outcrops forming the
spine of the mountain's ridge. This area offers
rugged hiking, cliffs, waterfalls, and great
views. |
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To find out more about the beauty that is the
Appalachian Mountains please contact the Boone,
Banner Elk or Blowing Rock Chambers of Commerce
or High Country Host. |
