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Photo Essays

CURRENT Photo Essays

Fabulous Fall Foliage: A Photo Essay

Our contributing photographers’ love of the mountains is on display in their wonderful work.

Summer Splash: A Photo Essay

Our contributing photographers know where to get wet.

Mountain Warmth: A Photo Essay

Flora and fauna thrive as a new season settles in.

Bloom Quiz: A Photo Essay

It’s time to brush up on identifying the surest signs of spring, as provided by our contributing photographers.

Creatures in the Cold: A Photo Essay

Our contributing photographers have been out shooting and shivering.

Current Issue

Wayah Bald in the Nantahala National Forest near Franklin, North Carolina. From the photographer: “Captured on a brisk autumn day with peak foliage.”

Fabulous Fall Foliage: A Photo Essay

Our contributing photographers’ love of the mountains is on display in their wonderful work.
Children cool off on a hot summer day by jumping into the fish ladder of the weir dam on the Doe River just downstream of the Elizabethton Covered Bridge in Elizabethton, Tennessee.

Summer Splash: A Photo Essay

Our contributing photographers know where to get wet.
Two friendly fawns engage in a gentle moment of mutual grooming in a quiet forest as their mothers feed nearby.

Mountain Warmth: A Photo Essay

Flora and fauna thrive as a new season settles in.
Hint: If you don’t have a green thumb, don’t worry. I’m drought-tolerant. I’m also NOT what my name implies. There are 80,000 varieties of me and I begin blooming in spring; you can see my blooms from spring to summer. What am I?

Bloom Quiz: A Photo Essay

It’s time to brush up on identifying the surest signs of spring, as provided by our contributing photographers.
Finch in search of food in the snow and gravel. From the photographer: “I was out walking at Laurel Run Park, near Rogersville, Tennessee, and as I finished my second-mile lap, I sat on a bench in hopes of seeing some birds. After a couple of minutes, this finch swooped down. As the snow started to fall, and the little finch bounced around, I slowly raised my camera and captured this shot.”

Creatures in the Cold: A Photo Essay

Our contributing photographers have been out shooting and shivering.
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Departments

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
Synchronous Fireflies
Creature Feature

The Light Fantastic

Fireflies are struggling with the effects of artificial light.

June 29, 2026

CALENDAR OF EVENTS