2026 Winter Hiking Challenge – it’s a Wrap!
WOW – The 2026 SAHC Winter Hiking Challenge wrapped up with a record-breaking 1,200 participants hiking more than 69,000 miles and raising more than $40,000 for conservation! Thank you to […]
2024 Bike Ride to Historic Alexander Chapel Baptist Church
On a bright Saturday in May 2024, an excited group of 30+ folks gathered to ride bikes, enjoy the outdoors, learn about Black history in rural Buncombe County and farmland […]
Chestnut Mountain Nature Park
Vendors and organizations participated in the Chestnut Mountain Nature Park Grand Opening on April 23.
On Saturday, April 23, 2022 the Town of Canton hosted a public opening for the Chestnut Mountain Nature Park on Hwy 19-23. Situated as a park-within-a-park, the mountain biking Berm Park simultaneously opened the public. The family-friendly grand opening event included live music, outdoor retailers, and more. A wide variety of visitors, including local residents and folks who had traveled from other states for the opening, enjoyed the park with bright skies on a sunny, warm spring day!
Ribbon cutting at opening ceremony April 22. Photo by Michelle Pugliese.
The busy public grand opening day followed a formal ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, April 22, which celebrated the many partners and funders whose work over several years led to the successful park opening. The ribbon cutting ceremony included guest speakers: Canton Town Mayor Zeb Smathers, Town Manager Nick Scheuer, SAHC Conservation Director Hanni Muerdter, Senator Kevin Corbin (NC Senate, District 50), Representative Mark Pless (NC House of Representatives, District 118), NC Land and Water Fund Western Field Representative Damon Hearne, Berm Park founder Seth Alvo (Berm Peak YouTube channel), and The Wildlands Network NC Project Manager Nikki Robinson. NC Rep. Mark Pless, NC Sen. Kevin Corbin, and NC Sen. Chuck Edwards were recognized for their role in helping with the creation of the Chestnut Mountain Nature Park and the future Pisgah View State Park, both in Haywood County.
Chestnut Mountain Nature Park ribbon cutting (video)
We are grateful to all the generous supporters, dedicated partners, and thoughtful leaders who have guided and contributed to the creation of this special place. This success story was made possible by the efforts of many helping hands, including public input into park plans and volunteer work days. We look forward to sharing future developments over the coming years!
For more info, including park open times and visitor info, visit theChestnut Mountain Nature Park Facebook page or ChestnutMountainNaturePark.com
Guests listen to speakers at the opening ceremony. Photo by Michelle Pugliese.
New picnic tables near the park entrance. Photo by Jess Laggis.
Mayor Zeb Smathers welcomes guests. Photo by Adams Wood.
SAHC Conservation Director Hanni Muerdter speaking at opening ceremony. Photo by Adams Wood.
NC Rep Mark Pless, NC Sen Kevin Corbin, and NC Sen Chuck Edwards discuss the importance of recreation lands for local communities. Photo by Adams Wood.
Seth Alvo (Berm Peak) speaks about creating Berm Park. Photo by Adams Wood.
NC Land Water Fund representative Damon Hearne speaks. Photo by Michelle Pugliese.
Hanni prepares to cut the ribbon. Photo by Adams Wood.
Ribbon cutting to open the park. Photo by Adams Wood.
View Media Coverage of the park opening at:
About Chestnut Mountain Nature Park:
Gateway into Chestnut Mountain Nature Park. Photo by Michelle Pugliese.
“We cannot think of a better way to celebrate Earth Day than the opening of this incredible conservation and recreation project,” says Nick Scheuer, town manager. “The importance of Chestnut Mountain Nature Park cannot be overstated and its impact on wildlife protection, quality of life improvements and economic development will impact generations to come. None of this would be possible without our incredible partners at Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy.”
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy purchased the 450-acre Chestnut Mountain property in 2020 in an ambitious endeavor to pair permanent protection of habitat and water resources with creation of a conservation-friendly, community-centric space for outdoor recreation. The Town of Canton engaged Equinox Environmental to lead a master planning process for the park, including community input sessions, and Elevated Trail Design worked on trail design for the property. Seth Alvo, creator of the Berm Peak YouTube channel and Seth’s Bike Hacks, galvanized his followers to support development of Berm Park — a mountain biking oasis and park-within-a-park at Chestnut Mountain Nature Park.
SAHC Land Protection Director Michelle Pugliese and Brad Kee, of Kee Mapping and Surveying, at the Berm Park entrance.
“Berm Park is a free, public bike park,” says Alvo. “While it’s just a tiny part of Chestnut Mountain, it will be a big part of the community. Funds to build Berm Park were provided by sponsoring companies and crowd-sourced from Patreon and YouTube followers, who watched the park come to life, week by week and stage by stage, on the internet. The collaboration between recreation and conservation here at Chestnut Mountain will remain an example for other communities in how working together can make big projects come to life. Chestnut Mountain and Berm Park now serve as assets to the area, strengthening the community’s health through recreation, and enriching the lives of many.”
Located in an important wildlife corridor, the large property includes diverse ecological communities, streams that flow into Hominy Creek, and the top of Chestnut Mountain. A portion of the tract was once slated for a motorsports speedway. Although that project never developed, grading work done for the speedway created a space well-suited for mountain bike and hiking trails. Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy partnered with the Town of Canton and an excited group of partners and funders to bring to fruition this vision — a nature park in which habitat and water resources are permanently protected by conservation easements, with areas open for people to enjoy, explore, and learn about nature.
The 450-acre Chestnut Mountain property contains a variety of natural communities. Photo by Adams Wood.
“Forested ridgelines and coves provide diverse habitat for plants and animals,” says Hanni Muerdter, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy’s conservation director. “This land contains a mosaic of habitat types, with pockets of mature hardwood forest with laurel and rhododendron, forested slopes facing a variety of directions, and an open field and early successional edge area beneficial for birds. We look forward to continuing to study patterns of wildlife movement across the land with our partners at The Wildlands Network. We’re also excited about the potential for the property to be an educational outdoor classroom. The Berm Park biking skills course was placed in a good location because that area was already disturbed, and the majority of the rest of the property will be reserved for forested habitat and single-track trails.”
In 2022, the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy transferred ownership of the land to the Town of Canton, but the nationally accredited nonprofit land trust will continue to monitor the conservation easements permanently protecting the tract in perpetuity. Conservation easements held by the State of NC and Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy ensure that the natural resources of the land will remain protected for future generations.
Chestnut Mountain photo by Stephanie Long.
At the grand opening, approximately 35 acres of the total 450-acre tract opened to the public. This area includes the mountain biking skills course at Berm Park and a mixed use (hiking and biking) trail that climbs approx. 350 ft. from the parking lot and pedestrian bridge which forms a gateway into the property. The Town of Canton continues to secure funding and plan for infrastructure development outlined in the Chestnut Mountain Nature Park master plan along with other pertinent information. Future hiking trails, recreation areas, and park amenities will open over the next two years.
“While we are excited to open up Chestnut Mountain in its first phase,” continues Scheuer, “this park is very much a work in progress, and we look forward to unveiling trails and amenities throughout the park that every user will be able to enjoy. The Town of Canton is partnering with Haywood Waterways Association on a stream restoration project along Hominy Creek. The next phase of park development will include hiking and biking specific trails, picnic pavilion, kids bicycle playground, scenic overlooks and more. There’s a lot to be excited about this month and in the future.”
Town of Canton:
Nestled in the heart of the Southern Appalachian Mountains on the Pigeon River and a mere 20 miles from downtown Asheville is Canton, NC, a historic mill town with unmatched character and pride. The Town of Canton boasts a relatively mild climate, a fascinating history & picturesque surroundings full of recreation opportunities for the young or the young at heart. More info at www.CantonNC.com.
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy:
The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy is a nationally accredited, non-profit land trust conserving land and water resources in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. Since 1974, SAHC has protected over 80,000 acres of unique plant and animal habitat, clean water, farmland, scenic views, and places for all people to enjoy outdoor recreation. SAHC’s acquisition of the Chestnut Mountain property was made possible with funding from the North Carolina Land and Water Fund, the NC Attorney General’s Office’s Environmental Enhancement Grant Program, The Pigeon River Fund of The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, the Conservation Trust for North Carolina, many private donors, and loans from the The Conservation Fund and from Hudson Land and Timber LLC. More info at Appalachian.org.
Berm Park:
Berm Park is a free, public bike park made possible by the town of Canton, the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy and most critically, people from all over the world who donated to fund the park. Half of funds to build Berm Park were contributed by sponsors: Diamondback Bicycles, Competitive Cyclist, Athletic Brewing, Dror Bezalel, and Park Tool Company. The other half of funds to build Berm Park were crowd-sourced from Patreon and YouTube followers, who watched the park come to life, week by week and stage by stage, on the internet. Berm Park was designed and built by local professional trail contractor Elevated Trail Design. More info at Youtube.com/c/SethsBikeHacks
A Night Under the Stars
16 inch wide telescope at Grassland Mountain Observatory
The car shook back and forth, the sound of gravel crushing and grinding under the weight of the tires during the steep mountain ascent. Suddenly, I reached the top, and the world opened up in a breathtaking view with a sky hundreds of miles long. Wave after wave of mountains sloshed against the horizon line, growing darker in blue hue the further my eye traveled. To my back, in the west, the sun was beginning to set. The stage was prepped for a captivating night of stargazing.
I walked just over the hillside to see a small cottage with its roof slid open, like a sliding glass door. Inside Bernie Arghiere, well known astronomer with the Astronomy Club of Asheville, calmly and happily commenced setting up the massive, 16-inch telescope mounted in the middle of the floor. The observatory sits on top of Grassland Mountain in Marshall, NC, and tonight, people from across the area were coming to experience a special Stargazer Outing. Read more
It’s Your Backyard: On the Doorstep of Paradise
National parks and public lands ambassadors Audrey and Frank Peterman and Daniel White (The Blackalachian) joined us as guest speakers for a special “It’s Your Backyard” community event at the Dr. Wesley Grant, Sr. Southside Center on April 6.
A young leader in outdoor recreation, Daniel through-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2017 and biked the route of the Underground Railroad (from Alabama to Canada) in 2018. He led off the day with a presentation about his explorations, highlighting the importance of representation of black people in history and outdoor recreation. Read more
Montreat Wilderness Hike 2018
In 2018 the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy purchased 123 acres including the western flank and summit of Brushy Knob, one of the Seven Sisters near Black Mountain, NC. To celebrate the acquisition of this valuable conservation land we led an educational hike along the outer rim of the Montreat Wilderness. Participants learned about SAHC’s role in conservation in the Black Mountains and were able to see the new acquisition firsthand. The hike consisted of 3,000′ of elevation gain over 8.5 miles! The following is one participant’s reflection on the outing…
Read more
Leave No Trace
Think about times you have been in the outdoors; it sometimes feels like you are the first person to experience your pristine surroundings, the first person to soak in the beauty of the trees and hear the flowing creek. Then think about other times, where you hiked in miles to a remote destination, only to find garbage and destruction. Obviously, the first experience is preferable; this is why SAHC decided to teach a Leave No Trace Trainer Course this spring! We were able to do so with help from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The ATC sponsors a grant annually using funds from the Appalachian Trail specialty license plates.
Leave No Trace
Leave No Trace is a set of outdoor ethics that promote conservation and help to minimize recreation-related impacts in the outdoors. There are seven principles that are used to educate and guide recreationists in sustainable minimum impact practices that mitigate or eliminate human impacts in the outdoors.
The Seven Principles
- Plan Ahead and Prepare
- Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
- Dispose of Waste Properly
- Leave What You Find
- Minimize Campfire Impacts
- Respect Wildlife
- Be Considerate of Other Visitors
Leave No Trace Trainer Course
The Leave No Trace Trainer Course was a free, two day certification course. The participants on the course learned how to be effective LNT trainers, so that they can continue to educate others on best practices! The course was taught at SAHC’s Elk Hollow Property. Participants arrived on Thursday morning and had a day full of education. The instructors, Michelle and Emily, taught lessons on LNT History, teaching techniques, and the Plan Ahead and Prepare ethic.
Then it was time for students to break up into pairs. Each pair picked out two ethics that they would like to teach, and we’re given the resources that they needed to teach them. Throughout the rest of the course, it was up to the students to teach the other 6 ethics. This led to some awesome group discussions, fun games, and overall great information!
On Thursday the group brought teaching to the trail, they woke up at 4:30am and hiked up to Little Hump to catch the sunrise and eat breakfast. After breakfast the group continued on the AT to the summit of Hump Mountain. Along the way we stopped to teach LNT lessons and to discuss different LNT observations made along the trail. By seeing and experiencing impacts on trail the group was able to make connections that may not have been possible in a classroom.
The participants are all avid users of the outdoors, but still felt they learned new ways to reduce their impacts. Some realized that they need to walk further from streams to use the bathroom; while others we’re shocked about the amount of time it actually takes for an orange peel to fully break down (up to two years). Thank you again to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy for providing this opportunity! These participants will continue to be good stewards of the outdoors and the AT, by passing on the knowledge they gained from this course!
Outreach Event
The second part of the grant we we’re given was to conduct Leave No Trace outreach on the Appalachian Trail at a popular junction! On Friday a group went up to Carver’s Gap to table, and talk to hikers about potential impacts and specific Appalachian Trail LNT practices. Over the course of the day we talked to over 60 people about Leave No Trace on the Appalachian Trail. A big topic that came up was the shortcuts between Carver’s Gap and Grassy Ridge. Many people did not know that using those shortcuts can cause major degradation on the balds including erosion and damaging sensitive habitats. After that conversation with many hikers, many decided they would no longer use these shortcuts. Although this outreach event only lasted one day, we hope the hikers we reached will continue to share this knowledge and start the conversation with others to help us preserve these special places!
Bookwalter Binge Gran Fondo and Raffle
Despite a rainy day, the 2017 Bookwalter Binge Gran Fondo was a huge success, with about 200 cyclists enjoying the ride! SAHC staff helped cheer on riders and hosted an exciting raffle at Pisgah Brewing for the Binge after-party. Our Land Protection Director, Michelle Pugliese, rode in the Medio in costume as Wonder Woman. While on the 62 mile ride she was able to point out SAHC conservation easements to other competitors.
To view the race results, visit: BookwalterBinge.com.
From proceeds of the raffle, we raised almost $2,000 for land and water conservation in the mountains of NC and TN. Thank you to everyone who participated in and supported Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy through the Bookwalter Binge Gran Fondo, and a special thanks to Brent and Jamie Bookwalter for choosing SAHC as the charity for the Binge!
Bookwalter Binge Raffle Winners
If you were not able to pick up your prize on Sunday, you can pick it up weekdays from 9:00am to 5:00pm at our office, located at 372 Merrimon Ave. Asheville, NC 28801.
Here is the list of unclaimed raffle prizes and the winning ticket numbers:
3. Weekend Rental House in Asheville- #741820 – Please email emily@appalachian.org to claim your prize!
7. Colavita Classic Collection with Extra Virgin Olive Oil- #741465
9. Skull Candy Crusher Wireless Headphones- #741459
15. Runner Box, Lululemon Gift Card, and Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe Gift Card- #741521
16. Eno DoubleNest and Atlas Suspension System- #741553
17. DNAFit Startline- #741782
19. DNAFit Fitness Diet Pro-# 741783
20. Velocio Clothing Gift Card- #741801 – Please email emily@appalachian.org to claim your prize!
33. Oakley Moonlight Sunglasses- #741501
Appalachian Spring 2017
We had a wonderful time with all of our members, friends, and guests last night at Yee-Haw Brewing Company in Johnson City, TN. Congratulations to our new/returning Trustees — David Erwin, Rick Manske, John Mason, Laura McCue, and Cynthia Poortenga. Thank you to our outgoing Trustees — Courtney Blossman, Jack Hamilton, Bill Lowndes, and Kathy Singleton — for your years of dedicated service to land and water conservation on behalf of Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. Congratulations to Kirk Watson of Causeway Interactive, the recipient of our 2017 Stanley A. Murray Award for Volunteer Service, and a big thank you to all our sponsors and raffle item donors for helping make our event a resounding success. It was a wonderful night for our annual Appalachian Spring conservation celebration, benefit, and member event.
Land Trust Day 2015
Thank you to our Land Trust Day sponsoring businesses, for helping us raise $13,000 for conservation in one day!
We’d also like to give a special THANK YOU to Mast General Store, for allowing us space in the Asheville and Waynesville stores to provide informative materials and talk to customers throughout the day. And thank you to our staff and volunteers who hosted tables at the Mast General Store locations: Michelle Pugliese, Sarah Sheeran, Caitlin Edenfield, Joan Worth, Leigh DeForth, and Cheryl Fowler.
This year, we also hosted two area hikes during Land Trust Day.
