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Camp LIGHT Shines

A couple works to bring outdoors-based summer camp experiences to special-needs youth.

A Dress, a Pitchfork and a Threat of Rain: The Haystack Picture

There are many discoveries to be made along the Blue Ridge Parkway, not least among which is a family at last seeing a part of its heritage selected from hundreds of photos for public display.

Summer in the Mountains: A Photo Essay

It’s cooler up here. And spectacular both up close and far away. Our contributing photographers have the proof!

Spring Springs: A Photo Essay

And when it does, flora and fauna alike explode upon the lands, waters and air of the mountains.

Anne Davis: For the Park and for the People

This appreciation of Anne Davis’ work toward establishment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a chapter from Michael Aday’s “Letters from the Smokies,” published in 2023 by the Great Smoky Mountains Association.

Current Issue

Cathy and Scott Balsley launched Camp LIGHT in 2014 on 160 acres.

Camp LIGHT Shines

A couple works to bring outdoors-based summer camp experiences to special-needs youth.
Children of Woodrow and Lavada Golding pose at the welcome sign at Rocky Knob Visitor Center, 2015. Left to right, oldest to youngest: Shirley Williams, Janet Breen, John Golding, Eula Walters, Ernie Golding, Kay Wood, Nancy Pharr and Allison Golding.

A Dress, a Pitchfork and a Threat of Rain: The Haystack Picture

There are many discoveries to be made along the Blue Ridge Parkway, not least among which is a family at last seeing a part of its heritage selected from hundreds of photos for public display.
Grassy Ridge, Roan Highlands, Tennessee/North Carolina. From the photographer: “Each year there’s a three- to four-day window when the delicate magenta blossoms of Catawba rhododendron paint the shrub-dominated ridgelines of Roan Mountain with vibrant color. It’s every photographer’s dream—certainly mine—to align this short bloom period with interesting atmospheric conditions. On this morning, everything came together. Following a three-mile, dark hike over open, grassy balds along the Appalachian Trail, I perched myself high atop a natural garden of flowering rhododendron. As the sun began to rise from the east, it seemed to pull an inverted cloud from the west ever so softly over Roan High Knob.”

Summer in the Mountains: A Photo Essay

It’s cooler up here. And spectacular both up close and far away. Our contributing photographers have the proof!
Foal along the Appalachian Trail in Virginia’s Grayson Highlands, with the note that hikers and other visitors are directed to limit interaction with the wild ponies to photographs only. From the photographer: “The wild ponies are one of the highlights along the Appalachian Trail in this region and for the park. The ponies are the descendants of 50 Assateague ponies released in 1974 and are small in stature. This young foal is incredibly small standing just a few feet high.”

Spring Springs: A Photo Essay

And when it does, flora and fauna alike explode upon the lands, waters and air of the mountains.
Gov. Austin Peay signed the legislation authorizing the purchase of Little River Company land. Left to right: Jeff Hunt, acting secretary to the governor; Speaker of the Senate Judge L. D. Hill; Representative Anne Davis; Gov. Peay; Mary Virginia Cox of the governor’s office; Representative W. B. Hatcher; and Speaker of the House W. F. Barry, Jr.

Anne Davis: For the Park and for the People

This appreciation of Anne Davis’ work toward establishment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a chapter from Michael Aday’s “Letters from the Smokies,” published in 2023 by the Great Smoky Mountains Association.
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Knoxville Asian Festival, August 29-30,  Knoxville, Tennessee. Photo courtesy of Asian Culture Center of TN
Events

Fall 2026 Festivals & Events Guide

From the Virginias and the Carolinas to Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, our annual compendium is the perfect travel companion. Inside,

April 20, 2026
4th of July Parade & Festival, July 4, Blowing Rock, North Carolina.
Events

Summer 2026 Festivals & Events Guide

From the Virginias and the Carolinas to Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, our annual compendium is the perfect travel companion. Inside,

April 20, 2026

CALENDAR OF EVENTS