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An Ecotour to Panthertown
Written By: Luke Osteen | Issue: October 2024
The Center for Life Enrichment is hosting a “Botanical EcoTour: The First Hints of Fall at Panthertown Valley” at 8:30 A.M. Tuesday, October 8. To register or for more information, call (828) 526-8811 or visit clehighlands.com.
Panthertown Valley is one of the most beautiful and special places in Southern Appalachia, with many great views, waterfalls, and distinct ecosystems.
Panthertown Valley, referred to as the Yosemite of the East, lies on the eastern continental divide in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. With more than 25 miles of designated trails in this 6,300-acre backcountry area visitors can enjoy deep gorges and broad valleys, mountain bogs and granitic rock domes, tranquil creeks and plunging waterfalls while hiking, biking or horseback riding.
Participants in CLE’s Ecotour will take a slow, easy walk along the Blackrock Trail, where they’ll see many beautiful trees, shrubs, and wildflowers.
Trip Leader Adam Bigelow is a horticulturist and the owner of Bigelow’s Botanical Excursions, an Ecotourism business offering guided, interpretive walks with a focus on the native wildflowers and plants of the Southern Appalachian bioregion. He’s been studying and working with plants for over twenty years and is the Garden Manager for the Cullowhee Community Garden, a donation-based organic community garden supported by the Jackson County Health Department.
Participants will meet at the CLE Lecture Hall, and directions will be provided by guide upon arrival. Caravanning and carpooling is encouraged.
