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CURRENT Features

The Heavy-duty Science Curio: New Eye For The Blue Ridge Escarpment

We got a note awhile back about a new scientific study looking at “the electrical conductivity of Earth’s crust and mantle below the mountain chain.” We wanted to understand it better, so we contacted the study’s lead author. Here's what he shared.

For the Love of Night Skies

Former Girl Scout Lora Callahan spent 120 hours leading an effort to make James River State Park Virginia’s second International Dark Sky Park. It became such last spring.

Big Guy, Big Animals: A Lifetime of Care for Creatures

Wildlife biologist Justin McVey loves working with critters—the larger, the better.

Photo Essay: Loving on the Cold

Hey, let’s not short the cold season, hard as it may be to step outside into it. Our contributing photographers certainly brave the elements, and are back with the beautiful proof.

‘Mona Lisa of the Mountains?’ The Stone Face of the New River Gorge

The enigmatic face was likely carved into soapstone in the 1950s by a coal miner.

Current Issue

Sharp Drop: The falloff from the mountains of South Carolina’s Caesars Head (foreground) and Table Rock (on the horizon)state parks onto the Piedmont is starkly illustrative of the unique character of the Blue Ridge Escarpment.

The Heavy-duty Science Curio: New Eye For The Blue Ridge Escarpment

We got a note awhile back about a new scientific study looking at “the electrical conductivity of Earth’s crust and mantle below the mountain chain.” We wanted to understand it better, so we contacted the study’s lead author. Here's what he shared.
Founding Troop #217 was Lora Callahan's first big project.

For the Love of Night Skies

Former Girl Scout Lora Callahan spent 120 hours leading an effort to make James River State Park Virginia’s second International Dark Sky Park. It became such last spring.
Justin McVey, here at work with cubs as part of an N.C. State/N.C. Wildlife Commission project, talks about bears: “They’re super-adaptable and really smart. If there’s a bear in a habitat with a lot of people, it learns where the food sources are and how to get into a trash can readily.”

Big Guy, Big Animals: A Lifetime of Care for Creatures

Wildlife biologist Justin McVey loves working with critters—the larger, the better.
First light paints the mountains near a wind-shaped oak on Max Patch in North Carolina.

Photo Essay: Loving on the Cold

Hey, let’s not short the cold season, hard as it may be to step outside into it. Our contributing photographers certainly brave the elements, and are back with the beautiful proof.
The mysterious carving is on National Park Service land near the New River Gorge.

‘Mona Lisa of the Mountains?’ The Stone Face of the New River Gorge

The enigmatic face was likely carved into soapstone in the 1950s by a coal miner.
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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

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