Connect With Us
Facebook-f X-twitter Youtube Instagram

Web Extras

CURRENT Web Extras

March’s Wild Edible: Brown Cup Mushrooms

The brown cup mushroom is an important harbinger of spring.

Birds of the Blue Ridge: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

If woodpeckers needed a percussionist for the jazz ensemble, this would be the bird.

Birds of the Blue Ridge: White-throated Sparrow

These large, plump sparrows with a small bill scratch backward on the ground and are regular visitors to backyard feeders.

February’s Wild Edible: Turkey Tail Mushrooms

In our region, one of the most common mushrooms during the fall and winter is the turkey tail mushroom.

Kurt’s Hikes: Oct-Dec, 2022

Our fall hikes included lots of old favorites, a few urban walks and three great family hikes, with grandkids as young as 5 along for hikes of nearly eight miles total—in the cold!

Current Issue

Brown cup mushrooms growing in a Botetourt County, VA woodlot.

March’s Wild Edible: Brown Cup Mushrooms

The brown cup mushroom is an important harbinger of spring.
d108defc-a62d-11ed-b4ca-12b3f1b64877-Yellow-bellied-Sapsucker-2---photo-by-Mike-Blevins

Birds of the Blue Ridge: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

If woodpeckers needed a percussionist for the jazz ensemble, this would be the bird.
70fed52a-a62d-11ed-84a6-12b3f1b64877-White-throated-Sparrow-4---photo-by-Mike-Blevins

Birds of the Blue Ridge: White-throated Sparrow

These large, plump sparrows with a small bill scratch backward on the ground and are regular visitors to backyard feeders.
Turkey tail growing on a dead hardwood stump.

February’s Wild Edible: Turkey Tail Mushrooms

In our region, one of the most common mushrooms during the fall and winter is the turkey tail mushroom.
b3c3b582-9d96-11ed-96a4-12b3f1b64877-IMG_1092

Kurt’s Hikes: Oct-Dec, 2022

Our fall hikes included lots of old favorites, a few urban walks and three great family hikes, with grandkids as young as 5 along for hikes of nearly eight miles total—in the cold!
VIEW MORE

Departments

Vibrant Monarch butterfly clings to its translucent dew covered cocoon
Creature Feature

Monarch Mimickers

It’s easy to mistake other orange species for the king of fall butterflies.

August 26, 2026
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

CALENDAR OF EVENTS