As our journey through Western North Carolina continues...

DAY 4 (Saturday)...

For the final full day of our roadtrip, we decided to head back eastward... and venture a little bit southeastward to take in more scenery and "clinch" one more North Carolina county.

From "base camp", we headed north/east on US 23/74 to US 276, where we exited southbound and ventured through downtown Waynesville on our way through the Pisgah National Forest.

Once we crossed under the Blue Ridge Parkway as we traveled down 276 (a.k.a. "Forest Heritage Scenic Byway"), I "clinched" my final county of the trip... Transylvania!!!

I find it kinda odd that there would be a county named for someplace you'd associate with Dracula, but instead of vampires, their "claim to fame" was a plethora of waterfalls... including Looking Glass Falls, located just over 5 miles (9 km) north of US 276's intersection with US 64 and NC 280 in Brevard and 9 miles (14 km) south of the BRP. Here's a photo Mary took from the side of the road...



Before we reached the falls, however, we stopped at the Forest Resource Center , since both of us had to "TCB", so to speak.

After paying the $5.00-per-person admission at the gate, we "TCB'd" it and decided to stick around for a little while.... and we were soooo glad we did.

The center, run by the U.S. Forest Service, had a wonderful museum and display of early American forestry artifacts, lots of educational displays on the flora and fauna of the Pisgah, and even some short fims to see.

From a "history buff's" point-of-view, it was fascinating to find out that we were in the "Cradle of Forestry" and at the site of America's very first forestry school, established in 1898 by Dr. Carl Schenck, a German forester who was hired by George Vanderbilt (then-owner of the Pisgah forest. The forest, which had been heavily damaged by over-logging, was eventually restored to its grandeur, thanks to the efforts of Dr. Schenck and his forestry students. The Vanderbilt family would later sell the 86,700-acre forest to the U.S. Government, who established Pisgah as America's very first national forest. The saving of the Pisgah forest set the precedent for responsible logging operations and conservation of forests nationwide.

Here is a North Carolina historical marker commemorating the forestry school...



Once we reached Brevard, we headed west on US 64 to NC 215, another part of the Forest Heritage Scenic Byway, in search of more waterfalls.

The Transylvania County brochure we had gave us locations of several different falls along 215, but unfortunately, they were all on private property, were not very visible from the highway, and had precarious trails that we weren't too thrilled about walking along. Nonetheless, we enjoyed the mountain scenery as we made our way northward to the BRP.

Once we got back on the Parkway from 215 (BRP mile 423.3), we headed westward toward Cherokee, the Parkway's southernmost end. Here are a few of the photos Mary took along our final BRP drive...

The first 2 photos are of the Pinnacle Ridge Tunnel (BRP mile 439.7)...





Since the stretch of the Parkway we drove included it's highest point, the Richland Balsam overlook (BRP mile 431.4), I just had to have her take a photo for posterity...



Here's one of the many awesome views that Mary captured along the many miles of Parkway we drove...



After making a few more stops along the parkway, including one at the rest area on US 23/74 just 3/4 mile off the parkway to "TCB", we finally made it to its southernmost end at US 441. Here's the approach to the very southernmost end just after crossing over the Oconaluftee River...



As a roadgeek, I was intrigued with the 2 brown signs for US 441. First, we'll take a look at the sign located on the right side of the picture...



Since the highway in the backgroud is actually US 441, why did the National Park Service have to put a "TO" next to the US 441 shield? Ditto for the US 441 southbound sign as shown in the photo below...



From the end of the BRP, we headed back to Dillsboro for dinner and to "chill" at "base camp".

On the next blog, I've got some "roadgeek pics" that I took along US 23/441 on the way back to GRG HQ. In the meantime, I need to get ready to take Mary to dinner. 7 years ago today, we were married behind "The Chicken House" and it's been a great journey in an of itself thus far. Happy Anniversary, honey!

That's it for now. Thanks for reading and please come back often.

 

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