Connect With Us
Facebook-f X-twitter Youtube Instagram

Behind Blue Ridge Country

CURRENT Behind Blue Ridge Country

February’s Wild Edible: Fiddlehead Ferns

In decades and centuries past, settlers in these mountains consumed what they called the fiddleheads of ferns. But just what is a fiddlehead?

January’s Wild Edible: Cattails

Cattails are native plants throughout the Blue Ridge.

Birds of the Blue Ridge: White-breasted Nuthatch

This “pointy” little bird announces itself with a distinctive nasal “honk.”

Birds of the Blue Ridge: Eastern Towhee

The Eastern Towhee is a bird of the undergrowth.

Birds of the Blue Ridge: Red-headed Woodpecker

The handsome Red-headed Woodpecker is often the “spark” species for igniting interest in birding.

Current Issue

Christmas fern fiddleheads are not edible and can be toxic.

February’s Wild Edible: Fiddlehead Ferns

In decades and centuries past, settlers in these mountains consumed what they called the fiddleheads of ferns. But just what is a fiddlehead?
Clay Morris examining a cattail in a Shenandoah Valley pond.

January’s Wild Edible: Cattails

Cattails are native plants throughout the Blue Ridge.
15b5d9ea-b312-11ef-8894-12163087a831-White-breasted-Nuthatch-5---photo-by-Mike-Blevins

Birds of the Blue Ridge: White-breasted Nuthatch

This “pointy” little bird announces itself with a distinctive nasal “honk.”
Male Eastern Towhee

Birds of the Blue Ridge: Eastern Towhee

The Eastern Towhee is a bird of the undergrowth.
0cdfd840-b310-11ef-b112-12163087a831-Red-headed-Woodpecker---photo-by-Mike-Blevins

Birds of the Blue Ridge: Red-headed Woodpecker

The handsome Red-headed Woodpecker is often the “spark” species for igniting interest in birding.
VIEW MORE

Departments

At Coopers Rock State Forest, new Stargazer cabins invite guests to look up through skylights and telescopes.
Country Roads

Even Closer to Almost Heaven

New Stargazer cabins at Coopers Rock State Forest offer a skyward escape in the mountains of West Virginia.

June 29, 2026
©Duncan Seaman
Country Roads

A Mountain Tradition Turns 90 

Visitors flock to Galax, Virginia, each summer for the Old Fiddlers’ Convention, a days-long celebration of Appalachian music.

June 29, 2026
Synchronous Fireflies
Creature Feature

The Light Fantastic

Fireflies are struggling with the effects of artificial light.

June 29, 2026

CALENDAR OF EVENTS