The readers of Blue Ridge Outdoor Magazine have spoken! They have chosen Roan Mountain as the Best of the Blue Ridge’s Best Appalachian Trail section.
Appalachian Trail Section
Roan Mountain
“Appalachian Trail thru-hikers often gripe and groan about the “green tunnel” that is the A.T., but Roan Mountain makes up for all of those long canopied miles with its expansive views and grassy balds. Situated on the literal border between North Carolina and Tennessee, the massif is home to a number of peaks 5,500 feet in elevation or higher. Because of this, hiking Roan’s balds is about the closest you can get to an above-treeline alpine trekking experience—spruce fir trees, rhododendron gardens, and ample amounts of snow turn this southern Appalachian anomaly into an arctic-like landscape come wintertime.”
“No matter what visitors like to do, the Roan Highlands can accommodate any kind of adventure seeker,” says Carter County Tourism Coordinator Kayla Carter. So if you’re not a hiker, she says, try, “birding, skiing, disc golf, and some beginner mountain biking trails at Roan Mountain State Park just down the road.” Roan Mountain is a one-stop-shop for adventure.
Thank you to the readers of Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine! We look forward to seeing you on the Roan and in Bakersville NC…the Gateway to the Roan, very soon!