Pisgah National Forest

The Biltmore Forest School was the first school of forestry in North America. Carl A. Schenck founded this school of "practical forestry" in 1896 on George W. Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate near Asheville, North Carolina. The school grounds are now part of Pisgah National Forest in Transylvania County, North Carolina as the Cradle of Forestry in America, a 6500-acre historic site which features exhibits about forestry and forest conservation history.

Unaka National Forest was established by the U.S. Forest Service in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia on July 24, 1920, with 840,996 acres (3,403.39 km2). On July 10, 1936, most of the forest was transferred to Pisgah National Forest, with the Virginia portion going to Jefferson National Forest, and the name was discontinued.

Named for Shining Rock, the Shining Rock Wilderness is a protected Wilderness Area in Haywood County, North Carolina. Its first 13,400 acres (54 km2) have been part of the National Wilderness Preservation System since the System was created in 1964. It now includes 18,483 acres (74.80 km2), and is managed by the United States Forest Service as part of the Pisgah National Forest. It is separated from Middle Prong Wilderness to the southwest, by NC 215. Within the wilderness, the Art Loeb Trail can be followed to the base of Cold Mountain, where a spur trail leads to the summit. Cold Mountain is the namesake of a historical fiction novel by Charles Frazier, and its film adaptation; both are set in the time of the American Civil War. Due to conflicts with black bears, in 2015 the Forest Service implemented a requirement for all overnight campers to carry bear-resistant canisters. Canisters are required year-round in the Wilderness Area and south of it to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Old Butt Knob is a summit in Haywood County, North Carolina, in the United States. It is located within Pisgah National Forest. With an elevation of 5,522 feet (1,683 m), Old Butt Knob is the 114th highest mountain in North Carolina.A hiking trail leads to Old Butt Knob's peak.

Looking Glass Rock is a pluton monolith in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina, United States.

Cruso (also Crusoe) is an unincorporated community in Haywood County, North Carolina, United States.Cruso is near Pisgah National Forest.

Graveyard Fields is the name of a flat mountain valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. It is located in the Great Balsam Mountains. The valley, itself over 5,000 feet in elevation, is surrounded by mountains exceeding 6,000 feet in elevation, such as Black Balsam Knob, Tennent Mountain, and Sam Knob. These high peaks form the source of the Yellowstone Prong of the Pigeon River, which flows through Graveyard Fields valley. Yellowstone Prong goes over 3 waterfalls in the valley: Upper Falls, Second Falls, and Yellowstone Falls. Graveyard Fields is a very popular hiking destination, accessible from the Blue Ridge Parkway. The valley's name may originate from a time when a great windstorm fell hundreds of spruce and fir trees on its slopes. These moss-covered stumps resembled graves. Another theory says that extensive logging during the early 1900s left stumps behind. Mosses and lichens grew on the stumps, resembling an overgrown graveyard. Later, during the time when this area was logged, major forest fires swept through the area. These fires devastated the entire valley, and heated the soil enough to sterilize it. Even now, plants have difficulty growing in the fire-ravaged soils, although some trees, shrubs, and grasslands are slowly beginning to thrive. Today, some forest has started to regrow, with species such as Red Spruce and Catawba Rhododendron, however much of the valley is still open and only covered in shrubs.

Shining Rock is a mountain in western North Carolina. The mountain is one of the Great Balsam Mountains which are a part of the Blue Ridge Mountains within the Appalachian Mountains. It is the 38th tallest mountain in the eastern United States.Shining Rock is in the Shining Rock Wilderness near milepost 420 of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Art Loeb Trail passes just below the summit. Shining Rock is named for the large white quartzite rock outcropping near its summit.

Mount Pisgah is a mountain in the Appalachian mountain range and part of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, United States. The mountain's height is 5,721 feet (1,744 m) above sea level, and it sits approximately 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of Asheville, near the crossing of the boundaries of Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson and Transylvania counties. It is located on the border of Buncombe and Haywood counties, close to the point where Henderson and Transylvania meet them, but not actually within the latter two counties. The mountain is easily accessible via a hiking trail from the Blue Ridge Parkway, near the Pisgah Inn.

WKSF (99.9 FM "Kiss Country") is a country music station licensed to Old Fort, North Carolina, serving the Asheville area. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and broadcasts from a tower on Mount Pisgah, southwest of Asheville.

Cold Mountain falls in the mountain region of western North Carolina, United States. The mountain is one of the Great Balsam Mountains which are a part of the Blue Ridge Mountains within the Appalachian Mountains. Cold Mountain and the Shining Rock Wilderness surrounding it are part of Pisgah National Forest. Cold Mountain is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southeast of Waynesville and 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Asheville. It rises to 6,030 feet (1,840 m) above sea level and is the 40th tallest mountain in the eastern United States. The peak is accessible only via an extremely strenuous branch of the Art Loeb Trail with a 10.6 miles (17.1 km) round trip and an elevation change of 2,800 feet (850 m).The vast majority of Cold Mountain falls within federal lands of the Shining Rock Wilderness of the Pisgah National Forest. However portions of the mountain, including approximately 800 acres (324 ha) of northwestern Cold Mountain in Panther Branch, are privately owned. There are about 15 residences on the northwest side of the mountain, and maintenance of access roads is funded by property owners. In 2016 the Southern Appalachian Highland Conservancy purchased the 162 acres (66 ha) Dix Creek tract from private owners. The land was transferred to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission in late October 2016 and will increase the adjoining Cold Mountain Game Lands to 3,500 acres (1,416 ha) in 2017.

Black Balsam Knob, also known as Black Balsam Bald, is in the Pisgah National Forest southwest of Asheville, North Carolina, near milepost 420 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is the second highest mountain in the Great Balsam Mountains. The Great Balsams are within the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are part of the Appalachian Mountains. It is the 23rd highest of the 40 mountains in North Carolina over 6000 feet.The top of the mountain is a grassy bald that affords a panoramic view. The origin of grassy balds in southern Haywood county is a result of extensive clear-cut logging and locomotive fires in 1925 and 1942. These fires burned deep down into the mineral-rich topsoil slowing reforestation or stopping it altogether. Examples of this can also be found on many of its neighboring peaks and ridges. These features contribute to the area's popularity, but foot traffic also causes some ecological damage to the ecosystem. The Art Loeb Trail follows the grassy ridge of Black Balsam Knob. Visible peaks from Black Balsam Knob include: Shining Rock in the Shining Rock Wilderness (3 miles northeast) Looking Glass Rock (5 miles southeast) Cold Mountain (6 miles north) Mount Pisgah (9.5 miles northeast) Mount Mitchell. On exceptionally clear days, Mount Mitchell, the highest point in the Eastern United States, is visible 45 miles north east.