As we near the busiest season of the year at Lake James State Park, it’s a good time to soak up the last few days of spring before diving into summer.
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What started out as a pipe dream is now a reality as construction crews working on the pedestrian bridge spanning Mills Creek have demobilized.
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The signs of spring are everywhere as Lake James State Park shrugs off the cold, dark days of winter and plants and animals emerge to greet the warming sun.
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There are some lucky North Carolina residents that are fortunate to live near one of the state’s 41 parks, recreation, or natural areas.
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Beetles, the most important organisms on Earth?
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Volunteer opportunity on April 24 for Swim Run Lake James
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On December 12 a dedicated crew of volunteers set about planting 50 native trees and shrubs throughout the Paddy’s Creek Area of Lake James State Park.
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Obeth Cemetery has been important to me since I was there with my dear grandmother in the 1950s.
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During the fall and winter of 2020, Lake James State Park benefitted from the hard work and expertise of a Conservation Corp North Carolina trail crew.
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Progress & Next Steps
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Things are changing at Lake James State Park, just as things always seem to do. In the past couple of years, the park staff family has seen retirements, promotions, new employees, births and deaths. Possibly the biggest change we are undergoing as of late is the construction of a 6,000-square-foot visitor center that will house new offices, an exhibit hall, gift shop and classroom.
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A new year means a new opportunity to learn about the natural world around us. For more than a decade, North Carolina State Parks has dedicated an annual campaign to some fascinating group of critters, plants or natural process and given it “Year of …” status. Welcome to 2021, Year of the Beetle.
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If there’s one constant everyone can rely on it is Nature’s unwavering march through the seasons.
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Since its designation as a state trail in 2015, the popularity of the Fonta Flora State Trail has grown rapidly within the region, and is now attracting visitors from all over. When completed, the trail will connect Burke, McDowell, and Buncombe counties with 100 miles of scenic hiking, biking and greenway trail from Morganton to Asheville.
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Have you swung into the park after a hard day’s work with visions of a fast, flowy afternoon, gliding through rollers on the bike trail and sweaty high fives at the end of your run, only to be met with the unexpected and unexplained “Trail Closed” sign?
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There’s more progress to report in this final “Year of Fire” installment.
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The changing seasons are as inevitable as the sunrise and sunset, and here at Lake James, Nature is transitioning from autumn to winter.
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Campfire cooking made easy with Ranger Vick.
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The brook floater, a state endangered freshwater mussel, was recently reintroduced into waters it hasn’t inhabited in more than 100 years, thanks to a partnership between the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and Duke Energy.
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