Blue Ridge Bartram Trail Conservancy

History. Art. And the Great Outdoors.

conservation

February 21st, 2023: The Forest That Was – A Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest Hike

UPDATED 2/10: RSVP for this event is now closed. Thank you all for your enthusiastic interest in this hike! We’ll do more of these in the future.

We’ve been wanting to mix things up a bit and this one still resonates with our inner-Bartram, as this is a special place in Western North Carolina, representing what the forests here would have looked like to William as he explored the area. He may have even made it to this area had it not been for his encounter with Attakullakulla while in the Nantahala River area.

The Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest is almost 4,000 acres of old growth forest, and this short two mile loop hike takes visitors through some of its most spectacular specimens. We’ll spend some time on winter tree identification and on the natural and cultural history of the area.

We’ll plan on meeting up at the Conservancy office at Cowee School at 9:00 am and carpooling to Joyce Kilmer. We’ll enjoy a slower pace and discussion about this wonderful old growth forest. Some may want to linger in the area afterwards, but we’ll aim to get folks back to their cars in Cowee by 5pm.

Bring lunch, water, hiking shoes, sense of humor and wonder.

February 9, 2023 Walking With Bartram – Section 4 (2): Wilson Gap to Hale Ridge Road

UPDATED 2/6: This hike is now full, RSVPs closed.

This is a second opportunity to joins us for Section 4 of the Walking With Bartram hiking series. In an effort to make these hikes more enjoyable and accessible to everyone that is interested, we’re offering a second date to join us. We’ll try to limit these hikes to 10 folks to allow everyone better interactions and make shuttling between trailheads a little easier.

If you’ve already signed up for the January 27th Walking with Bartram, you can change your RSVP to this one, just let us know if you do. You can email us directly at info@blueridgebartram.org.

Join us for section 4 in North Georgia from Wilson Gap to Hale Ridge Road, right at the North Carolina border. This is the final section in North Georgia before heading into the Nantahala National Forest in North Carolina. This section is 9.2 miles in length and we’ll start climbing a little more to enjoy the views Rabun Bald.

We’ll meet at 9:00 am at the Hale Ridge Road trailhead to organize our shuttle cars to the start point. Both trailheads are a little tight with rougher roads leading to them. But, we did alright with shuttling cars to Wilson Gap in December, so we’ll be ok. If you do have a higher-clearance vehicle and can car-pool, that would be very helpful.

More details to follow closer to this date once we have all our RSVPs in.

Newcomers are welcome to join us. All you need to bring is water, lunch, clothing appropriate for this season, and your sense of humor and wonder.

We have had great interest in these hikes and are working to create new hiking opportunities. If you are interested in leading a hike, let us know!

March 27th, 2023: Invasive Species Removal – Garlic Mustard!

We will be working with the USFS and an invasive species expert, to remove garlic mustard (click here to learn more about this plant) from the Bartram trail. We don’t know if we have garlic mustard on the Bartram Trail itself, but we will start from the trail and work to hit nearby infestations. This would mostly be hand pulling – no real need for specialized equipment. By working in the winter we can get to the one-year-old plants before they send up flowers in the spring, and get ahead of the risk of seed dispersal onto the trail.

If you would like to carpool, plan to meet at 9:00 am at Cowee School. Let us know if you plan to carpool to hep with identifying how many vehicles we’ll need. Nolton Ridge Road is not the easiest point to find, but if you would like to drive directly there, let us know and we’ll provide direction.

Please bring work gloves, good boots, plenty of water, lunch, any meds you might need and esprit de corps.

If you’re new to trail maintenance or just want to learn more, you can find more information here on our site. Don’t be shy, we’ll provide everything you need to enjoy your day while making a huge impact for future enjoyment of the Bartram Trail. The hard work of our volunteers is what keeps the 110 miles of trails open and usable all year long.

Source of photo: invasive.org

January 31st, 2023: Trailhead Tuesday

This is a new program for those looking to get involved but with limited time. We will meet in the early afternoon to divide and conquer some minor clean up and trail head maintenance. We’re looking for folks to visit a set of selected trail heads to re-stock Bartram Trail information cards, complete a trail head condition report, pick up any trash in the area, and chat with hikers as they start their day hike.

We’ll supply everything you need for the day. Although we suggest you bring your own gloves, a hat, sunscreen, and a positive attitude.

We’ll meet at 1pm in the church parking lot across from Lazy Hiker Brewing in Franklin, NC. At 3pm, we’ll regroup to share our accomplishments over a cold beverage.

Please RSVP to help with planning for this event:

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