The inaugural “Cold Mountain Christmas Craft Fair” will be held from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Lake Logan Retreat Center in Canton. 

A new Carolina Mountain Club trail crew, dubbed the Extra Mile Crew, has been formed to work on trail sections likely to be missed by existing crews. 

In a November 2022 interview with The Smoky Mountain News, storied writer Fred Chappell, a Haywood County native who was 86 at the time, was asked what the culmination of his life meant to him looking back. 

A fire in the Shining Rock Wilderness Area burned about 200 acres last week after a 911 call at 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, alerted authorities to the blaze, but heavy rain Saturday helped halt its growth. 

The Cold Mountain Fire is still burning in Haywood County, with a helicopter flight measuring it at approximately 126 acres as of noon today.

A wildfire near Cold Mountain in Haywood County was reported at 3 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 21, and as of 7:30 p.m. Thursday night it had grown to about 106 acres.

The second annual Cold Mountain Music Festival will return June 8-9 to the Lake Logan Conference Center. 

The festival will feature top-notch musical talent. Friday’s schedule will be The Kenny George Band (4:30 p.m.), The Broadcast (5:45 p.m.), Jon Stickley Trio (7 p.m.) and Mandolin Orange (8:45 p.m.). Saturday’s schedule will be The Broadcast (1 p.m.), Dangermuffin (2:15 p.m.), Tyler Ramsey (3:45 p.m.), The Steel Wheels (5 p.m.), River Whyless (7 p.m.) and Shovels & Rope (9 p.m.). The event will raise funds and awareness for Lake Logan and Camp Henry.

There’s a reason Shovels & Rope has evolved into one of the “must see” live acts in the music scene over the last decade. Sure, the Charleston, South Carolina, band is comprised of two incredibly talented songwriters and performers (Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent). And yes, the energy they radiate onstage is insanely contagious to anyone within earshot. 

When you dig into the music of The Jon Stickley Trio, you find yourself meandering farther down the rabbit hole, with seemingly no end in sight. It’s a whirlwind of tone, bolting across the musical spectrum in a never-ending game of melodic duck-duck-goose.

Sliding into the parking lot of the Cold Mountain Corn Maze, the smell of campfire and old, fallen leaves fills the nostrils.

Soon, the sounds of screaming fill the ears.