Ribbon Cutting & Hike to Celebrate Craggy Gardens enhancements

You're invited to come celebrate the installation of new educational exhibits at Craggy Gardens Visitor Center during a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m., Saturday, October 27, at milepost 364, north of Asheville.

The interpretive panels highlight the many intriguing aspects of this high-elevation environment in the Great Craggy Mountains, a subrange of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The displays illustrate the harsh weather and growing conditions, common high-elevation plants, animals, and birds, hidden wildlife, and more. David Williams of Wingin’ It Works designed and illustrated the exhibits in collaboration with the National Park Service.

After viewing the exhibits, guests are invited to join Blue Ridge Parkway Plant Ecologist Chris Ulrey for an educational hike at 10:30 a.m. across the bald at Craggy Gardens, where he will share more information about this rare habitat and its history. Participants can meet at the large wooden shelter on the Craggy Gardens Trail before setting off together. The shelter is accessible from the Craggy Gardens Picnic Grounds via a .5 mile hike or from the Visitor Center for a .3 mile hike. Weather conditions can change quickly at this high elevation, so participants are encouraged to bring layers of clothing and wear sturdy shoes.

The event is also a celebration for repairs completed along the Craggy Flats Bald Trail in the summer of 2017. A crew with the American Conservation Experience installed stairs, removed informal trails and encroaching vegetation, and repaired areas that contributed to erosion along the route that is accessible from the Visitor Center and nearby picnic grounds.

Both projects were made possible thanks to donor support through the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, including a matching challenge offered by RomanticAsheville.com and funds raised during the annual High Pass Boogie motorcycle ride.