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CURRENT Features

History on the Road: The Coal Heritage Trail

The West Virginia Coal Heritage Trail winds for nearly 200 miles, from Ansted south to Bluefield.

14 Great Themed Mountain Drive Trails

Pick a passion—history, scenic beauty, music, wineries, agri-visits, gardens and more—and the mountain region has a driving trail for a concentrated dose. Plan your year’s travels here!

Curios: Disappearing Lakes of the Southern Appalachians

Trout Pond, Mountain Lake & Lost Sea: the three natural lakes of the region are endangered.

Curios: WWII Storage Bunkers at a Nature Preserve?

The Chattanooga preserve offers an odd combination of great birding and wildlife watching with 100 tree-topped concrete bunkers.

Curios: Strange Arrows Upon the Land – 70 Feet of Bleached Concrete

The determination of what they are involves a combination of modern-day satellite technology and the delivery of snail mail.

Current Issue

West Virginia’s Coal Heritage Trail is built around unique towns, old rail lines and coal mines along with many other cultural and historical discoveries.

History on the Road: The Coal Heritage Trail

The West Virginia Coal Heritage Trail winds for nearly 200 miles, from Ansted south to Bluefield.
Cumberland Gap is part of the Kentucky’s Wilderness Road Heritage Highway.

14 Great Themed Mountain Drive Trails

Pick a passion—history, scenic beauty, music, wineries, agri-visits, gardens and more—and the mountain region has a driving trail for a concentrated dose. Plan your year’s travels here!
West Virginia’s Trout Pond, in Hardy County, was full in 2003 when the shot below was taken. Leakage out of what was until recently a blocked limestone sinkhole has reduced the pond to its current level, as seen above.

Curios: Disappearing Lakes of the Southern Appalachians

Trout Pond, Mountain Lake & Lost Sea: the three natural lakes of the region are endangered.
Trees have grown over many of the 1940s-era concrete bunkers at what is now Enterprise South Nature Park, near Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Curios: WWII Storage Bunkers at a Nature Preserve?

The Chattanooga preserve offers an odd combination of great birding and wildlife watching with 100 tree-topped concrete bunkers.
This postal arrow, one of the few still preserved in the Southern Appalachians, is in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, and directed airplanes on the Atlanta-New York Airway.

Curios: Strange Arrows Upon the Land – 70 Feet of Bleached Concrete

The determination of what they are involves a combination of modern-day satellite technology and the delivery of snail mail.
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Departments

Smith Mountain Lake Virginia is a hidden gem within the Blue Ridge Mountains. This beautiful area features boating, sailing, hiking, shopping, fishing, and much more.
From The Editor

Sarah Smiles: The Lake Effect

Growing up, many of my weekends were spent at my late step-grandmother’s house on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia.

June 26, 2026

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