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The Great Craggy Mountains along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, USA with Catawba Rhododendron during a spring season sunset.

Sarah Smiles: This Place We Call Home

“I just really liked the name.” 
A $1.21 million grant will help the Monacan Indian Nation purchase more than 300 acres on Bear Mountain in Amherst County. © The Conservation Fund

28 New Grants Support Virginia Land, Cultural Sites, and Wildlife

The Virginia Land Conservation Fund has announced grants for 28 projects across the commonwealth, including efforts to purchase tracts that hold cultural and archaeological significance for Native Americans and to preserve wetlands, forests, and Civil War battlefields.
Courtesy of Wunderland

Old Fort Welcomes One-of-a-Kind Retreat

An experience-driven entrepreneur has transformed 35 wooded acres in North Carolina into a distinctive lodging destination.
Vernon and Toni Wright turn grains grown on their family farm into freshly distilled spirits.

Virginia Century Farm Home to New Distillery

For nearly 200 years, Vernon and Toni Wright’s family has raised corn, cattle and quarter horses at Hill High.

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.

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.

©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.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS