Once spring arrives in the Blue Ridge, it’s a non-stop parade of wildflowers blooming nearly everywhere. On show beginning in mid-June: rhododendron maximum or rosebay rhododendron. This is the tallest and showiest of the three rhododendron species native to our…
As we move into prime hiking season, it's important to remember human impact on the environment and how it can be minimized, whether you're on an extended backpacking trip or a simple day hike. These seven principles provide guidelines for…
We’ve had a lot of requests for Jim Parham’s Waterfall Hikes of North Georgia this week. All the rain this spring has made for spectacular waterfalls in the region. That got us thinking: What defines a waterfall? To answer that question, here’s an…
We seem to have wildflowers on the brain here at Milestone Press. This may be because Jim Parham is nearing the end of a five-year book project titled Wildflower Walks & Hikes: North Carolina Mountains, due out next year. But the other reason is…
A recent post about flowers that mark old home places in the Southern Appalachians mentioned the early spring-flowering shrub forsythia. Like daffodils, forsythia blooms are golden, making bright spots in the woods where cabins and farmsteads once stood. Like daffodils,…
It's been a warm winter here in the Smokies. And although we expect more cold weather in March, there's reason to expect that unlike last year, it will be an early spring. The earliest spring flowers are already in evidence. Daffodils…
Whoop-te-doo. It's a term mountain bikers use for an earth berm that's been built into a trail, usually to prevent erosion, but sometimes to slow mountain bikers down as they descend a hill—a type of speed bump, if you will. The undulation creates…
It won't be long now! Jim Parham has been hard at work on Mountain Bike Trails: North Georgia Mountains & Southeast Tennessee, and it will be available April 1. While you're waiting, check out the Table of Contents and a sample…
It's been 25 years since the very first volume of the Off the Beaten Track mountain bike guide series was published, but times have changed and now it's time to say goodbye. The last two volumes in the series will go out of print…
The year was drawing to a close. The weather for the first day of 2017 looked iffy. So December 31 seemed the perfect time to hike to the nearby Wesser Bald Fire Tower in Nantahala National Forest to survey the damage wrought…