According to the recently released results of the National Park Service’s newest peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis, in 2022 North Carolina was yet again home to the nation’s two top parks for visitor spending — the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation is one step closer to drafting its new action plan following a series of seven regional meetings.

The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation recently welcomed Bronwyn Lance to the nonprofit organization’s Council of Advisors. 

A series of meetings this month in seven communities along the Blue Ridge Parkway will help formulate an action plan for Blue Ridge Rising, a regional planning effort uniting gateway communities along the Parkway.

Go birding at Buck Spring along the Blue Ridge Parkway with an expedition meeting 8 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, at Jukebox Junction in Bethel.

Howard Browers will lead the walk. Loaner binoculars are available. Cost is $10. Sign up at bit.ly/haywoodrec.

Learn how to stay safe in the woods with a course 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, at Standing Rock Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

In the early morning hours of Tuesday, June 27, the National Park Service airlifted the wreckage of a 1983 plane crash near Waterrock Knob that has proven popular with both hikers and travel writers.

Over the coming weeks, maintenance work will begin on six bridges on the Blue Ridge Parkway, including two in the Asheville and Linville Gorge areas.

Campgrounds, picnic areas and visitor centers on the Blue Ridge Parkway are now open with full services for the 2023 season.

Students from The Christ School in Asheville have won one of five annual awards given by Blue Ridge Parkway managers to recognize volunteer contributions to preservation, protection and enjoyment of the Parkway.