Calendar of Events

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

Saturdays from 10:30 AM – 12 PM

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

Democrats need to be more actively messaging and to overcome the makers of fake news with the truth! Join this ongoing group of writers working together on Letters to the Editor and Opinion Editorials. We’ll discuss the issues we care about most deeply and craft a plan to respond to events as they occur in real time.

The group meets the first and third Monday of each month for writing, responding to one another’s work, scheduling submissions, and exploring media outlets across the state.

“Rant with purpose. Support with facts. Propel action.” – Myra Schoen

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

Saturdays from 10:30 AM – 12 PM

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

Congratulations to our Youth Spoken Word Contest winners:

 Eva S. — 11th grade at Carolina Day

 Tesslyn H. — 8th grade at IC Imagine Public Charter School

 Gabriella B. — 11th grade at School of Inquiry and Life Sciences at Asheville (SILSA)

 Lily A. — 9th grade at Madison Early College High School

Come experience these talented students perform with artist Dasan Ahanu, Tuesday, April 23 at 5:30 p.m. at Atelier Maison’s showroom. Admission is free; RSVP required. Drinks and light appetizers will be provided.

RSVP to [email protected].

Event location:

Atelier Maison Showroom

121 Sweeten Creek Road, Ste. 50

Asheville, NC 28803

About Dasan Ahanu: Christopher Massenburg, better known as Dasan Ahanu, is a public speaker, organizer, curator, educator, poet, spoken word artist, songwriter, emcee, and loyal hip-hop head born and raised in Raleigh, NC.

Sponsored by Atelier Maison.

Join the Dark City Poets Society for a free publishing workshop from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23, 2024 at the Black Mountain Library,105 N. Dougherty Street, Black Mountain, NC 28711. This workshop will be led by John Himmelheber, editor of Smoky Blue Literary and Arts Magazine, along with Ivy Rosen, editor of Black Mountain Press. Learn tips and tricks on how to get published and what the best practices are for submitting your work for consideration. This workshop is open to all ages, and no registration is required.

oin the Dark City Poets Society for a free publishing workshop at the Black Mountain Library!
This workshop will be led by John Himmelheber, editor of Smoky Blue Literary And Arts Magazine, along with Ivy Rosen, editor of Black Mountain Press. Learn tips and tricks on how to get published.

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

The Asheville Museum of History (Formerly the Western North Carolina Historical Association) announces David Joy’s Those We Thought We Knew as the winner of the 2023 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award

The Asheville Museum of History announces the selection of the winner David Joy for Those We Thought We Knew for the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award. Finalists Erica Abrams Locklear, Elizabeth Giddens, Jennifer McGaha and Terry Roberts will also be honored at an awards ceremony Thursday, April 25, 6 p.m. at A-B Tech’s Ferguson Auditorium (19 Tech Drive). A reception will follow at the Asheville Museum of History at the Smith-McDowell House, 283 Victoria Road, Asheville, NC.

Originated by the Louis Lipinsky family, the Award has been presented annually by the organization since 1955 for printed works that focus special attention on Western North Carolina. To be considered, an entry must be a published work of fiction, nonfiction, drama or poetry and meet the following criteria:

1. It must be a first edition work; revised editions of published works will not be considered.
2. The publication date must have been no later than August 1, 2023.
3. The author must be a native of Western North Carolina or a resident of Western North Carolina for at least twelve months prior to the closing date for the Award.
4. An author may also qualify if the work submitted has a focus on or setting in Western North Carolina.

 The Western North Carolina Historical Association presented the first Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award to Wilma Dykeman in 1955 for The French Broad. Brent Martin won the 2022 award for George Masa’s Wild Vision: A Japanese Immigrant Imagines Western North Carolina. Other authors who have received the award include Robert Brunk, Wayne Caldwell, Wiley Cash, Charles Frazier, John Ehle, Gail Godwin, Michael McFee, Doug Orr, Ron Rash, Fiona Ritchie, Terry Roberts, Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle and Lee Smith.

A prize of $1,000 accompanies the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award and will be awarded to David Joy, winner of this year’s award, at a ceremony at AB Tech’s Ferguson Auditorium (Fernihurst Drive, Asheville) on Thursday, April 25, 6 p.m. Each of the finalists will read a short passage from their work. There will be a reception at 7 p.m. at the Asheville Museum of History at the Smith-McDowell House.

This year’s finalists were chosen from an original group of more than 35 nominations.  The finalists, listed below in alphabetical order, encompass a broad range of genres and forms.

• Erica Abrams Locklear Appalachia on the Table: Representing Mountain Food and People
• Elizabeth Giddens Oconaluftee: The History of a Smoky Mountain Valley
• David Joy Those We Thought We Knew (Winner of the 2023 Thomas Wolfe Literary Award)
• Jennifer McGaha Bushwhacking: How to Get Lost in the Woods and Writer Your Way Out
• Terry Roberts The Sky Club

The Award Panel this year consists of: Catherine Frank, Chair, Director, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UNC Asheville; Wayne Caldwell, author and former Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award winner; Dee James, professor emeritus, UNC-Asheville; and Jim Stokely, President, Wilma Dykeman Legacy.

For more information visit https://www.ashevillehistory.org/literaryaward/ and https://www.simpletix.com/e/thomas-wolfe-literary-award-tickets-167349#location

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

Saturdays from 10:30 AM – 12 PM

Popper Tract

Distance: 3 miles

Difficulty: (6/10 difficulty) Moderate. Several steep inclines and stream-crossings

Cost: FREE

Registration: Pre-registration is REQUIRED

We invite you to join us for a memorial hike to honor and remember our friend Bill Popper and his dedication to preserving the 573-acre Prices Creek Preserve in Yancey County that he loved so much.

This hike is a perennial favorite, taking participants through our Price’s Creek Preserve where an astounding array of ephemeral wildflowers can be found this time of year. Participants will hike through mature northern hardwood forest along a trail following the babbling Price’s Creek. Midway along the trail – a spur trail leads up to a picturesque cascade where we will stop for a leisurely picnic lunch.

NOTE: Due to limited parking availability, we will be hard capping this hike at 12 participants. Please register each party member individually to ensure we do not go over this number.

We will meet at a public parking area before carpooling to Price’s Creek Preserve. If you are willing to be a driver, please let me know in the comments section of your registration.

If you would like to learn more about Bill Popper and his passion for this land that he loved, please read our recent memorial here. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected].

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.