Blue Ridge Parkway grows by 110 acres

The Conservation Trust for North Carolina announced yesterday the sale of 110 acres to the Blue Ridge Parkway in Haywood County.

The National Park Service purchased the 110-acre Richland Creek Headwaters Tract, near Milepost 440, in February for $500,000, less than half of the appraised value of the entire parcel.

The conservation group purchased 64 acres of the tract in April 2010 from Joe and Wilma Jo Arrington using private donations and grants from the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund and the Pigeon River Fund. The couple also donated an adjoining 46 acres in June 2010.

The Richland Creek Headwaters tract provides a spectacular backdrop for Blue Ridge Parkway travelers – especially from the Waynesville and Saunook overlooks – near the boundary of Haywood and Jackson counties in the Great Balsam Mountains. The land lies between Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests and near the 32,000-acre Roy Taylor Memorial Forest, and 12 miles east of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

For more information on the tract, please click here.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com