Insiders' Guide to North Carolina's Mountains is the essential source for in-depth travel and relocation information to the region that includes Asheville, Biltmore Estate, Cherokee, Blue Ridge Parkway, and other nearby environs. Written by a local (and true insider), this guide offers a personal and practical perspective of the area and its surrounding environs.

Each year, thousands of tourists visit Mount Mitchell, the most prominent feature of North Carolina's Black Mountain range and the highest peak in the eastern United States. From Native Americans and early explorers to land speculators and conservationists, people have long been drawn to this rugged region. Timothy Silver explores the long and complicated history of the Black Mountains, drawing on both the historical record and his experience as a backpacker and fly fisherman. He chronicles the geological and environmental forces that created this intriguing landscape, then traces its history of environmental change and human intervention from the days of Indian-European contact to today. Among the many tales Silver recounts is that of Elisha Mitchell, the renowned geologist and University of North Carolina professor for whom Mount Mitchell is named, who fell to his death there in 1857. But nature's stories--of forest fires, chestnut blight, competition among plants and animals, insect invasions, and, most recently, airborne toxins and acid rain--are also part of Silver's narrative, making it the first history of the Appalachians in which the natural world gets equal time with human history. It is only by understanding the dynamic between these two forces, Silver says, that we can begin to protect the Black Mountains for future generations.

Structural and metamorphic history of rocks exposed in the largest window in the crystalline belt of the southern Appalachians, and a discussion of the significance of the window in interpretation of the tectonics of the region.

Traveling US 25 through the Carolinas today is a much more pleasant experience than it was in the 1700s. Then, the road from the Tennessee Cherokee Towns to Augusta, Georgia, was a Cherokee trading path that followed a bison trace to the navigable port on the Savannah River. Drovers came from as far as Kentucky herding hogs, turkeys and mules. Lowcountry South Carolinians traveled by stagecoach and wagon to the foothills and mountains, staying for months. The Augusta Road, Saluda Gap and Buncombe Turnpike became the Dixie Highway Carolina Division and then US Route 25 by 1931. Authors Anne Peden and Jim Scott travel the trading path and concrete highway to explore this fascinating history.

The Sunday drive. Mom, dad and the kids would head out to see the countryside. An ice cream treat usually waited at day's end. Back in the Burma-Shave days, mom-and-pop drive-ins and gas station biscuits fed folks. Cheap gas filled cars, and people made Sunday drives through a land where See Rock City barns, sawdust piles and trains and junkyards gave them plenty to see. Men in seersucker suits ran old stores with oscillating fans, and if the kids ate too much penny candy, grandma had a home remedy for them. It was a time for dinner on church grounds, yard art and old-fashioned petunias. Join author Tom Poland as he revisits disappearing traditions.

With hundreds of miles of beautiful beaches and barrier islands, the coastline of North and South Carolina is one of the most treasured shorelines in the country. Coastal Trails of the Carolinas celebrates this vibrant region by offering the best hikes along this gorgeous coast. Written by veteran guidebook author Johnny Molloy and including additional information on local sights and attractions, Coastal Trails of the Carolinas will offer everything hikers need to explore this treasured shoreline.

North Carolina boasts a natural environment of exceptional richness and diversity. From the mountains to the coast, the state is home to an extraordinary variety of publicly accessible sites that showcase aspects of its ecology, geology, biology, and natural history. This book leads the reader on thirty-eight field trips to some of the most interesting and instructive of these natural landscapes. Written by leading naturalists from across the state, this collection of "eco-tours" includes excursions to each of its four major regions: the coast, the Coastal Plain, the Piedmont, and the mountains. Each trip traces a thirty- to seventy-mile driving route that connects preserved areas, hiking trails, scenic overlooks, nature trails, and other sites of interest. All entries provide a map of the route, describe what can be seen and learned along the way, and discuss especially noteworthy features. An essential resource for anyone who treasures North Carolina's natural heritage, this book will inspire and inform travelers throughout the Tar Heel state.