Time: 10:00 am
Where: Blackrock Mountain Hike
Difficulty: Strenuous (8/10)
Cost: Free for SAHC Members, $10 for non-members (Pre-Registration is Required!)
Join Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy for a guided 6 mile out and back hike along the Blackrock Ridge trail out to the Blackrock Mountain summit. This trail is rugged and traverses technical terrain through open meadows and thick fir forest. This hike will be mostly shaded through the forest and we will see numerous rock outcrops with great views of Thunderstruck ridge and surrounding mountains.
Blackrock Mountain in the Plott Balsam Mountains is part of a network of conservation lands in progress of being added to an expansion of national park land at Waterrock Knob on the Blue Ridge Parkway. In 2013, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy purchased the summit of Blackrock Mountain, with more than 250 surrounding acres. The property adjoins other conservation lands: SAHC’s 60-acre Blackrock Ridge tract (protected in 2010), the Sylva Watershed (protected with a conservation easement held by Mainspring Conservation Trust), and The Nature Conservancy’s Plott-Balsam Preserve. SAHC’s conservation work in this area protects high elevation habitat and pristine headwater streams.
This hike is in partnership with Highland Brewing Company to celebrate the return of their Thunderstruck Coffee Porter – as part of their Thirst for Good and SAHC’s ‘For Love of Beer and Mountains’ partnerships. Hike through the beautiful mountains that inspired its namesake, then finish with a celebratory cheers and a view worth raising a drink to.