Appalachian Trail

Appalachian Trail

As undeveloped land shrank in the East, the desire to preserve a wilderness experience intensified. In 1925 a forester, Benton McKaye, organized a conference in Washington, DC, to plan the construction of a footpath that would stretch the length of the Appalachian...
Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

America’s first National Parks were created out West.  By the early 20th century, Easterners who feared the loss of nature in their rapidly industrializing region wanted their own park.  Businessmen and outdoorsmen in Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina, led...
Pisgah National Forest

Pisgah National Forest

Pisgah National Forest, founded in 1916, covers much of North Carolina’s northwestern mountains. Pisgah was the first national forest created from purchased land rather than from the public domain. Many of its half-million acres were purchased from the widow of the Biltmore Estate’s creator, George W. Vanderbilt.