Blue Ridge Bartram Trail Conservancy

History. Art. And the Great Outdoors.

walking with bartram

October 27th Walking With Bartram: Appletree Campground to Beechertown

We’re getting close to tying a bow on this second round of section hiking the Bartram Trail and I do believe we’re gonna do it in record time! With weather being favorable and our hiking groups fleet-footed and fearless, we’re going to skip the Piercy Creek side trail this time through and make the haul from Appletree Campground to Beechertown.

We’ll plan on meeting at the Beechertown trailhead at 9am and figure out shuttling to Appletree to start off the day. This is a moderately strenuous hike, at least the climb up onto the ridgeline, before we drop back down. We can do it!

Newcomers are welcome to join us. Please plan to bring plenty of 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!

Please RSVP below to help us with planning:

August 25, 2023 – Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala

Wayah Bald is the site of one of our favorite passages from Bartram’s Travels, where William stands upon its summit and describes “a sublimely awful scene of mountains piled upon mountains.”

If you’ve been up to Wayah Bald more than once or twice, you probably know your chances of seeing these views is a roll of the dice, unless you really, really checked the weather forecast before heading up! We go up fairly frequently as part of our trail maintenance outings and quite often are treated to dense fog and low clouds. Not on this day!

Don’t get me wrong, Wayah is a beautiful place, clouds or not. Based on his famous quote, William must have checked the weather forecast and set his eyes on something similar to what we saw as we began our Walking with Bartram section hike from Wayah Bald down to Lake Nantahala.

Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Chicken of the Woods mushrooom found during Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Trailhead at Lake Nantahala on Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala
Trailhead at Lake Nantahala on Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala

We had a great group and great weather for this section hike. Thanks to everyone who came out, which included a hearty band of hikers who continue to step their way across the 110 miles of the Bartram Trail with us.

Hike Participants

  • Mark Barrett
  • Robert Olive
  • Sharon Mandel
  • Rosemary Safranek
  • Michelle Stephens
  • Starlett Henderson
  • Sandra Kruger
  • Stephen Beaudette
  • Noryce Burgey
  • Ruffin Bailey
  • Bill Hollingsworth
  • Jana Plemmons
  • Phillip Rogers
  • Brent Martin
  • Chris Tranchina

Be sure to check out our Events page to RSVP for the next Walking With Bartram section hike from Lake Nantahala to Appletree Campground.

September 29th, Walking With Bartram – Lake Nantahala to Appletree Campground

We welcome all on another great Walking With Bartram hike, as we continue to weave our way across the Bartram Trail, section by section!

This hike picks up from last month’s Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala hike. It’s .7 miles on Wayah Road before entering the forest for another 5 miles to Appletree. The trail follows old road beds and skirts the upper gorge for spectacular views of the lake and the river.

We’ll plan to meet at 9 AM at Appletree Campground to organize shuttles to the Lake Nantahala trailhead.

Newcomers are welcome to join us. Please plan to bring plenty of 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!

Please RSVP below to help with planning:

August 25th, Walking With Bartram – Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala

This will be a relatively long hike at around 8 miles, but well worth the views from Wayah Bald as well as over Lake Nantahala as we approach it. We’ll pass through Sawmill Gap on the way down. This section shares about a mile or so with the Appalachian Trail just below Wayah Bald to Winespring Gap.

We’ll plan on meeting at the Lake Nantahala trailhead at 8:30 am and shuttling up to Wayah Bald to begin the day. There is limited parking at the Lake Nantahala trailhead, so please consider carpooling if possible. Reach out and we’ll help with that!

Newcomers are welcome to join us. Please plan to bring plenty of 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!

Here’s a link to the trailhead location: https://www.google.com/maps/place/35%C2%B011’30.9%22N+83%C2%B038’25.2%22W/@35.1924892,-83.6409569,17z/data=!4m13!1m8!3m7!1s0x885ece407dc4aad3:0xcb5a0e2479a23ee8!2sTopton,+NC+28901!3b1!8m2!3d35.2470348!4d-83.7032269!16s%2Fm%2F04b6wyp!3m3!8m2!3d35.191905!4d-83.640332?hl=en&entry=ttu

Please RSVP below to help with planning:

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