Homepage
Regional Content:
Photo Essay, February 2025
Our readers share their photos from around the Southern Appalachians. Read more
Feb 1, 2025
12:00 AM
Small Game was Joy on the Table
The dining experiences of my high country boyhood were, I’m fairly certain, an accurate reflection of culinary practices as they existed throughout the 20th century. Read more
Feb 1, 2025
12:00 AM
Apples of the Earth: A Tater Tribute
High on a ridgeline on the edge of the Sugarloaf, North Carolina, in the hollow of a gap that gives way on one side to Shelton Laurel and on the other side to Spillcorn, potatoes have been cultivated for as long as anyone can remember. Read more
Feb 1, 2025
12:00 AM
Go Down Swinging
For the better part of 40 years, guitarist Warren Haynes has been well-regarded as one of the hardest working musicians in rock ‘n’ roll. Read more
Feb 1, 2025
12:00 AM
WNC Skier Shares Love of Sport with Family, Community
On the weekdays, Alex Masciarelli proudly works as principal of Junaluska Elementary School in Waynesville, North Carolina. But, on the weekends during this time of year, he’s also a member of the Ski Patrol at Cataloochee Ski Area. Read more
Feb 1, 2025
12:00 AM
Rehab Efforts Begin on Popular Smokies Trail
The National Park Service (NPS) will begin a major rehabilitation on Laurel Falls Trail, one of the most popular trails in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Read more
Feb 1, 2025
12:00 AM
On the Trail in the Smokies
Measured against many places in the Southern Appalachians, Great Smoky Mountains National Park was spared much of the wrath of Hurricane Helene. Not that the Smokies were unscathed. Read more
Feb 1, 2025
12:00 AM
The Joyful Botanist
I’ve been getting bogged down a lot this year. I don’t mean that I’ve been in a quagmire or morass necessarily, but I’ve been slogging through some incredibly beautiful wetland ecosystems in the mountains and throughout the southeastern U.S. Read more
Feb 1, 2025
12:00 AM
Safe Passage 2.0
When the Safe Passage Coalition started working in 2017 to make Interstate 40 a safer place for people and wildlife through the Pigeon River Gorge, nobody knew that, in a few short years, entire sections of the critical roadway would vanish. Read more
Feb 1, 2025
12:00 AM
The Beloved Banty Birds
It began in the springtime, as most of our clucking adventures do. My daughter, like most consumers, is drawn to the cutesy “farm-life” items: metal chicken lawn décor, farm-themed ornaments, and more pet toys than you can shake a stick at. Read more
Feb 1, 2025
12:00 AM
The Story of The Kingdom of the Happy Land
I had heard from a multi-generational native of Polk County named Paul Rhodes about a place called The Kingdom of the Happy Land that was one of the first African American communities established after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Read more
Feb 1, 2025
12:00 AM