Eli Reeves Cabin at Hobbyknob Farm

02/02/2026

WTF

01/07/2026

A hard to believe in a just a year, so much damage!

08/29/2025

Love this photo

A soft glow on the mountains that don't ask for much, just your attention.
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📸: IG |

08/29/2025

100 years ago, Asheville changed the course of American music.

In August 1925, producer Ralph Peer invited fiddlers, banjo players, ballad singers, and blues musicians to step up to a recording horn at the George Vanderbilt Hotel. What they captured became the first commercial recordings ever made in Appalachia—two years before the legendary Bristol Sessions.

Now, Asheville is celebrating a century of sound with:
💿 Remastered recordings from the original 1925 sessions (CD + vinyl, Aug. 25)

🎤 A four-day citywide music celebration featuring performances from artists like Ketch Secor from Old Crow Medicine Show, River Whyless, Toubab Krewe, Tyler Ramsey, Floating Action and more (Nov. 6–9).

Be here when history echoes through the mountains again. Explore the story + plan your trip at the link in our comments!

08/29/2025

Cooler up there too!

On top of the world! 🌄

The highest part of the Parkway is found at the Richland Balsam Overlook (milepost 431.4). At this point you are 6053 feet above sea level! ☁️

This high elevation rewards visitors with stunning views of the surrounding forests, where you can see the fir and spruce trees that are hallmarks of higher elevation forests. (Lower elevation forests are dominated by more broad leaf trees, like beeches and maples.) 🌲

If you continue northbound on the Parkway, you will come to the Richland Balsam trail head at mile post 431. Here you can do the 1.5 mile moderate hike through the forest to the highest peak in the Blue Ridge Parkway. 🥾

Have you been to Richland Balsam? If so, what did you see from the highest point on the Parkway? 👓

NPS Photo: Sign for highest elevation on the Blue Ridge Parkway with mountain slope and blue sky with clouds in the background. 📸K. Valentine

08/29/2025

Yes! Good news?

🍂 More good news for the Parkway!

A landslide repair at Devil’s Courthouse (Milepost 422) is complete, reopening the overlook, trail, and restoring continuous access to more than 85 miles from Asheville all the way to Cherokee.

📍 Check road status and plan your visit: go.nps.gov/Helene

08/29/2025

Progress! Asheville and the area are open, come enjoy fall and the holidays this year!

ANOTHER OPENING! 🥳

Today, Aug. 29, the Blue Ridge Parkway opened from milepost 420.2 to milepost 423.2, near Devil’s Courthouse, after completing a Helene landslide repair project at milepost 422.

Completion of this project restores continuous access to over 85 miles of the park from milepost 382, in Asheville, NC, to the southern terminus of the park at milepost 469, near Cherokee. The Devil’s Courthouse overlook and trail are also now open.

For safety reasons, the park asks that people continue to be patient and respect remaining closures. Multiple seen and unseen hazards exist in closed areas, and crews and heavy equipment at work make areas unsafe. Visitors should also be aware that trail assessments are also still underway, and caution should be exercised as hikers may encounter hazards on trails such as landslides, tree debris, and washed-out sections or bridges.

Photo: Parkway with new paving and striping with mountainous view to the right and trees and mountainside and trees to the left. 📸 Federal Highway Administration

06/15/2025

Asheville is back and so is Western North Carolina. Here's your guide to 2025 downtown, North South East West, and WNC, open and ready for you

03/29/2025

Grandfather mountain , about 1 1/2 hours away, but doable from here.

03/29/2025

After your outing yo the falls visit Hillman Beer - Asheville/Biltmore Village in old fort or The Grange or fresh pizza in black mountain

03/29/2025

Catawba falls is open! Located about 40 minutes from here near old fort. You will see how Helene impacted the area, but the falls are beautiful and a couple of good summer swimming holes. Be prepared for a step workout! You can admire the falls without climbing to the top.

11/03/2024

Trees down but not on any animals or houses, water over the bridge and out of the banks but our bridge held. We were very lucky, we have wells with good water , we only lost power for 4 days. We are able to have visitors and Weaverville is busy. Biltmore is open now for their holiday time, although be sure and check their info. The village area outside was decimated, so be prepared. River Arts District Artists, Asheville is having a soft opening nov. 9-10, again, so much lost down there but not all. The artists that work in RAD make their living with their art. It is good to be able to go there and support. The non profit I am a part of, is not on the river and we lost everything in the building after debris busted out a window and 11 ft of water swirled around in there leaving everything in there covered in mud.
Luckily the building owners had insurance so it is getting cleaned up and we hope to reopen early next year. Local cloth, we are located at 408 depot street.
I am not sure how I feel about the TDA welcoming tourists back. There are parts of WNC and Asheville proper that will take years to clean up and rebuild. Many areas in Asheville will not have useable water until possibly mid December. I think it can be eye opening to see the impact the storm has had. But lives were lost, homes were lost, businesses were lost . Let’s do better taking care of our creation. May be too late. Scenes from our property and road, Dillingham road in barnardsville and local cloth in RADe