The moderate, 3-mile Ridgecrest hike will take hikers on the Point Lookout Trail to a viewpoint overlooking the valley. Point Lookout was a popular stopping point and overlook on old ...

This discussion will include a special guest visit with author Sheila Kay Adams! From the publisher: "In tones as warm and rich as the sun shinging on his Appalachian home, ...

Its refrain is inscribed on the Country Music Hall of Fame’s rotunda, it is the title of the 1972 landmark album by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and it has ...

Taking a guided walking tour of Old Town Swannanoa. Swannanoa was once home to a thriving downtown, known to locals as “The Station.” Bordered by the Beacon Blanket mill and the railroad tracks, Swannanoa’s downtown included ...

This hike will start near Clingman’s Peak and then will follow the Old Mitchell Trail to Potato Knob and Patton’s Table.  We will then follow the MTS Trail to top ...

From the publisher: "From the people of the Appalachian Mountains comes a special brand of humor: dry, colorful and earthy, aimed sometimes at the hillbilly's own foibles, but often at ...

Many people may not know that President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation did not apply to enslaved people in states under Union control. Despite this, then-Military Governor of Tennessee, Andrew Johnson emancipated ...

This peak (elevation 5,482 feet) was named after North Fork’s Walker family, one of the early families to settle in the upper North Fork valley. The Walkers owned much of ...

This year marks the centennial of the construction of the historic Black Mountain firehouse, located in downtown Black Mountain on West State Street. The firehouse was constructed two years after ...

The Negro Motorist Green Book facilitated safe travel for African Americans during the Jim Crow era. Where did travelers go in western North Carolina? Who were the people and places listed in the Green Book in ...

Join the Guastavino Alliance, Swannanoa Valley Museum, and Western North Carolina Historical Association on Monday, September 13, 2021 at 10:30 am for the unveiling and dedication of a new NC Highway Historical Marker recognizing ...

Let’s talk about toys!  In honor of Grandparents Day, join AARP and the Swannanoa Valley Museum for a fun, interactive, online talk that spans several generations. Learn about different toys ...

From the publisher:  "The Body Farm - a research institute that tests the decomposition of corpses. Black Mountain, North Carolina: a sleepy little town where the local police deal with ...

The fall of 1921 marks the 100-year anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest armed uprising in United States history since the Civil War. The uprising was led ...

Take a guided walking  tour of the historical Tabernacle cemetery. This tour brings to life the families who colonized the area after the Revolutionary War, painting a vivid picture of ...

Buckner’s Knob was the original name given to today’s Craggy Pinnacle, named after the Buckner family, one of the early families to settle on the Barnardsville side of the Craggies. ...

One of the most common misconceptions of Black Mountain College is that it was a "city on a hill," a college campus divorced from its surroundings, with few if any ...

For much of the last century, Appalachians have left the region in search of opportunity, leaving behind people and places that have great personal and cultural significance. Sociologists, historians, and ...

In the 1800s and early 1900s the top of Brushy was an important meeting spot for hunters. It divides the large drainages of Bee Tree Creek (Right Fork), Laurel Branch, ...

From the publisher: "Nineteen-year-old Cowney Sequoyah yearns to escape his hometown of Cherokee, North Carolina, in the heart of the Smoky Mountains. When a summer job at Asheville's luxurious Grove ...

Tucked into the Reems Creek Valley, the Vance Birthplace State Historic Site interprets life on an early 1800s mountain plantation.  Utilizing seven historic structures and an extensive artifact collection, interpreters ...

The Seven Sisters peaks are a familiar sight from Lake Tomahawk. While the Seven Sisters span an expanse of only 3.5 miles, hiking up to and across the range is a strenuous, ...

Join the Swannanoa Valley Treasured Tree Alliance on a walking tour of the downtown loop of Treasured Trees. After the 2 mile walk we will stop at the Black Mountain Bistro for a tree dedication. This event is free to the public.

While many in our region claim Scots-Irish heritage and generally acknowledge the role the Scots Irish played in the settlement and cultural development of the Southern Appalachian region, this presentation ...

Join the museum for the final hike of the Swannanoa Rim Hike Series to “Garden of Eden.” This rocky mountaintop is located one mile northwest of Lake Eden on the ...

Take a guided tour of two cemeteries associated with what is believed to be the earliest Protestant church founded west of the Continental Divide. The history of the Patton and ...

Learn the history of Black Mountain and the Swannanoa Valley on this walking tour. Museum staff will lead attendees through historic State Street, Cherry Street and Black Mountain Avenue, relaying ...

The plants that deck the halls at Winter Solstice were not chosen randomly by peoples of the past. Pine, holly, oak, rose hip, and fir: all these trees and plants ...

Learn the history of Black Mountain and the Swannanoa Valley on this walking tour! Museum staff will lead attendees through historic State Street, Cherry Street and Black Mountain Avenue, relaying ...

Join the Swannanoa Valley Museum for its third year of Winter Workshops, taking place on Saturdays for three consecutive weekends in January. This year, the museum is focusing on ecology, ...

NEW, FULL SERIES HIKERS: At 8:00am, January 2, 2022. registration for the Swannanoa Valley Museum's Valley Rim Explorer Hiking Series will open on this page. Registration will take place on ...

Join us for an online orientation to our popular SWANNANOA VALLEY RIM EXPLORER™ HIKING SERIES. This talk, hosted on zoom, will cover specifics of each hike, difficulty, and other logistics.  Now ...

THIS EVENT IS BEING RESCHEDULED DUE TO WEATHER. Attendees will receive a reschedule date as soon as one is determined.  This 4.3 mile, moderate hike​ runs from Wendell Begley’s home on ...

Join us on zoom for a look at the history of planting by the astrological signs in Appalachia. Though antiquated, this interesting historical practice held sway, and still does, throughout ...

The Cherokee Boundary was the eastern most boundary of the Cherokee Nation. The hike will begin at Wendell's house and cover the Eastern Continental Divide to near Swannanoa Gap. Almost all of the 4.5 mile trip (many ups and ...

Enjoy visiting the small, but beautiful, waterfall on Falls Branch, located within the boundaries of Grove Stone and Sand Quarry. This loop hike will ramble through parts of the quarry ...

The image of kudzu growing over trees and hillsides is a familiar sight in Southern Appalachia and the South, and though this plant has a less-than desirable reputation, its vines ...

We are all a part of the natural world and our lives are profoundly affected by nature.  The natural world provides a common meeting place as well as a source ...

Join us for an orientation to the Museum’s VALLEY HISTORY EXPLORER HIKING SERIES, which consists of 8 hikes to historic locations around the Swannanoa Valley, one in each of our communities. ...

The first hike in the series will explore the Bee Tree community. With special permission from the Conservation Trust of North Carolina, we will hike around the Bee Tree Reservoir, ...

The hike to Weatherford Heights explores the history and geography of Y.M.C.A. Blue Ridge Assembly. The hike follows the original boundary line of the conference center’s grounds, surveyed by educator, author, and religious leader Willis ...

Join us on this exclusive historic driving tour of the east side of the Burnett Reservoir to explore part of the once thriving North Fork Valley community. The trip stops at ...

From April through June, the Swannanoa Valley Museum will host the traveling exhibit River Cane Renaissance, designed by the Mountain Heritage Center (MHC) of Western Carolina University. To celebrate the ...

This hike will follow the Kitsuma Trail to a viewpoint boasting sweeping vistas of the Swannanoa Valley, including a breathtaking view of Mt. Mitchell, which is visible on clear days. Today, Ridgecrest ...

Birds are all around us and they are always talking! and often when they are silent, they are still communicating.  Through sounds, silences, and behaviors birds are sharing vast amounts ...

This difficult, 6-mile segment traverses the crest of the Blue Ridge (Continental Divide) along the eastern boundary of Montreat. Montreat was founded by Rev. John C. Collins in 1897 as a place “for physical and ...