Western North Carolina, showplace of the Southern Appalachians, the Great Smoky Mountains and the venerable Black Mountains is a favorite destination for autumn leaf-lookers far and wide. The crisp mountain air – still warm in the day and jacket-cool at night – combines with cobalt skies and flame colored trees to provide a feast for the eyes and seasonal connections between the earth and the soul. Put that together with our many fine restaurants, local festivals and attractions, and fine accommodations, and pretty soon you’re talking about some of the best vacation getaway experiences the world has to offer.

The spectacular colors of autumn arise in hardwood tree leaves, which contain several different color pigments that appear as chlorophyll production shuts down and the tree prepares for winter by pulling the remaining chlorophyll/sugar energy out of the leaves. Brilliant reds, yellows and flame-bright oranges blanket the hills and valleys. Frost, which has already hit the high country, serves to break down the chlorophyll all at once, resulting longer lasting fall foliage. The result is a feast for the eyes and the heart that keeps visitors coming back year after year.

There are well-planned drives, whether you’re traveling by car, motorcycle or bicycle, well-worn hiking trails and fall festivals all over the region. Western North Carolina’s many beautiful resorts and golf courses beckon as well, with rest and recreational exercise in the clear mountain air. Check out some of the links below to find just what you’re looking for, and take some time off from the rat race to enjoy our natural beauty, talented artisans and musicians, fun family festivals and activities, and fine Southern hospitality. You won’t believe what our leaves can do!

Links:

MSNBC: Autumn is in the NC air
Leaf-Lookers Guide: Perfect Drives
High Country Outdoors
GolfNorthCarolina: Best Courses
High Country Reservations
High Country Attractions
Carolina BalloonFest 35
Crossroads Pumpkin Fest
Explore Asheville

In the late autumn of the year the forest’s umbrella of summer green turns ten shades of red and as many hues of yellow – with some impossible combinations in between. As they fall to blanket the ground and reveal bare, spiny branches, the view opens up to reconnect the mountain earth with the sky. Right around Halloween and into November a mysterious phenomenon draws hundreds of watchers hoping to see some ghosts.

Mentioned in Cherokee legends originating as long as 800 years ago, the mysterious Brown Mountain Lights have dazzled watchers by zipping and dancing through Linville Gorge and along the Brown Mountain ridge near Morganton in Burke County, North Carolina.

They’ve been described as glowing balls of fire, bursting skyrockets, or pale, white ‘bubbles’. They”ve been seen to drift, fade and brighten, whirl like pinwheels, then dart away playfully. A short hike from a parking area along a gravel Forest Service is Wisemans View in the Pisgah National Forest.

Cherokee legend holds that their ancestors fought a great battle against the Catawba Indians near Brown Mountain in the year 1200 a.d. According to the legend the lights are spirits of maidens who search in vain for their loved ones lost in the battle. When the white frontiersmen came, they attributed the lights to the spirits of the Indian warriors on both sides who died in the battle. Others through the years claim the lights are candle-bearing ghosts destined to wander the mountain forever.

In more modern times the lights have drawn a number of researchers and paranormal investigators who attempt to explain them in less spooky terms. One theory suggests it’s a combination of minerals in the rocks reacting with gases in the air. Another thinks it might be uranium or pitchblende deposits in the rocks exciting gases.

Some skeptics have dismissed the lights as a mirage, reflected lights from nearby towns. Though that would hardly explain historical eyewitness reports. The U.S. Geological Survey concluded in 1913 that the lights were train headlights reflected from the Catawba Valley, but hardly anyone believed that. More recently the same agency revised their conclusion to claim it’s the spontaneous combusion of marsh gases, even though there are no marshes on or around Brown Mountain.

The lights have been popular with paranormal investigators and UFO fans as well. One fascinating report published in Alternate Perceptions Magazine details an expedition in 2003, when the lights were videotaped by Dr. Greg Little and his crew.

Little’s hypothesis is that the Brown Mountain phenomenon is a manifestation of “Earthlights,” which are luminous balls of light that appear over geological fault lines. They’ve been seen and photographed by seismic crews and satellites. It’s believed to be a piezoelectric effect of changing seismic pressure on quartzite rock deep in the fault, which escapes at relief points as charged plasma.

Little reports that Canadian neuropsychologist Michael Persinger, who has studied Earthlights for many years, has reproduced the effect in the laboratory. Persinger noted some psychoactive effects of the plasma’s magnetic field. Including altered states of consciousness and vivid hallucinations – ghostly apparitions, alien abductions, Bigfoot sightings and encounters with fairies, Leprechauns and gnomes.

The actual close-up encounters with the real Brown Mountain lights don’t mention Bigfoot at all, though one did claim the lights are created by aliens who live inside the mountain. Perhaps what he views as alien is what someone else would report as gnomes or Leprechauns or fairies. A couple of close encounter stories report a sizzling fire – a ball or a length, like the curtains of the aurora borealis (but smaller and closer).

Whatever the Brown Mountain Lights are, scientifically speaking, they are a well known phenomenon and genuine NC attraction. Still unexplained and perhaps unexplainable by science, still holding to those native and frontier legends that interpreted the lights to be unhappy spirits of the long dead.

Links:

Fields at Catawba Meadows: Things to Do

Mysterious America: The Brown Mountain Lights

ASU Physics: The Brown Mountain Lights

Brown Mountain Lights of Burke County

Morganton, NC Accommodations

Linville Falls Village

First come the wannabe Leaf-Lookers. They start arriving in late September, inevitably disappointed by the lack of fall foliage anywhere but atop the highest portions of the Blue Ridge Parkway, but happy there are so many side excursions to engage, festivals to attend, and adventures to embark upon.

Then, about mid-October the real Leaf-Lookers arrive in droves. They can start at either end of North Carolina’s section of the Parkway, timing their stops along the way to the many events going on. Starting in the north, the Yadkin Valley Grape Festival is scheduled for Saturday, October 20 in downtown Yadkinville.

Food, live music, children’s events and a wine-tasting of exceptional vintages from Yadkin Valley wineries are the main events, along with the Ginny B. Motorcycle Ride to benefit Hospice. If you’re a motorcycle enthusiast this is a spectacular ride through the scenic countryside and vineyards of Yadkin.

Continuing down the Parkway south to catch the show as well as the expansive views, the crisp autumn air and deep blue skies set off the colorful display of leaves. The first to turn are dogwoods, sourwood and blackgum – turning deep red. The tulip poplars and birches then follow with their sunshine yellows, the sassafras and red maples donning a range of crimson to the most impossible flame orange you can’t believe unless you see it. Finally, the oaks turn russet and hold that pose well into November.

Along the way south, there are plenty of events just off the Parkway in towns like the Mountain Glory Festival in Marion, Old Fort Octoberfest and Mountain Music, and the Maggie Valley Fall Arts & Crafts Festival.

As you’re passing through Asheville on the Parkway, don’t neglect to drop in at the Folk Art Center, where there are crafts on display and usually some artisans present to demonstrate how it’s done. And for a really special treat, there is the famous Biltmore Estate and Winery, where descendants of the castle’s original owner George W. Vanderbilt still host guests touring the estate and the most-visited winery in the U.S.

Biltmore’s award winning wines can be purchased at the winery, and there are events every weekend through the fall. Biltmore Living offers some great wine suggestions for pairing with foods, some ideas on gracious entertaining even if you don’t live in a castle, and some wonderful recipes from famous chefs that will have your mouth watering well before dinner is served!

Plan to end the southward drive at Cherokee and Maggie Valley, turning off the Parkway at the south end of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There are events going in both towns all the way through October, offering music, dancing, displays of cider making and mountain crafts, award-winning BBQ, fresh rainbow trout, guided nature hikes and even canoe trips on the river.

By November, the tourists still coming into the mountains but missing the peak of fall color are known locally as Limb-Lookers. Not to worry, there are still plenty of things to do and see. Check out the links above and below for more information on events and recommendations, get planning!

Links:

Blue Ridge Parkway Calendar of Events

NC Arboretum Asheville

Great Smoky Mountains Railroad

Old Fort Mountain Music

Headwaters Outfitters

The autumn Lake Eden Arts Festival at Camp Rockmont in Black Mountain is scheduled for October 19, 20 and 21 at the very height of fall leaf-looker season in the mountains. Marking its 25th festival, the lineup this year is spectacular.

LEAF has become a regular WNC institution with two festivals a year, spring and fall. There are numerous artists displaying their work, plenty of fun activities for children and adults, lots of live music day and night, and many gifted performers. The LEAF sponsors offer programs internationally and in inner cities here in the U.S. that match children with instruments and residency mentors, bringing some of the best from Guatamala, Rwanda, Panama and elsewhere to show off their talents during the festivals.

The setting is beautiful Lake Eden surrounded by mountains, and families can purchase day-tickets, weekend tickets and the “weekend-plus” passes that cover 3.5 days and 3 nights of overnight camping at any of several fine lakeside camping areas.

Headliners on the main stage this year include Tony Trischka’s Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular; the legendary Doc Watson with his grandson and David Holt in their Hills of Home tribute; The Wilders honky tonk fiddle tunes; Fishbone’s mix of funk, ska, reggae and punk; and locals David Lamont, Eliza Lynn, Big Medicine and many more.

There’s the Jabali African Acrobats of Kenya, Mizero Children’s Troupe of Rwanda, John Doyle and Liz Carroll traditional Irish duo, and a big Contra & Square Dance with George Marshall and Beth Molaro. The Paperhand Puppet Intervention will be there again this fall with their giant parade puppets. The world-class Poetry Slam tent will be busy throughout the festival, offering a thousand dollar grand prize this year for the best slammers.

The Kid’s Creativity Zone offers stiltwalkers, juggling, balloon-twisting, storytelling, puppets, sing-alongs and other fun activities. The food comes in both serious pig-picking BBQ and other meat-eating delights as well as vegetarian and vegan offerings, with plenty of cool water, apple cider and cold beer.

This is one family-oriented festival that should definitely be experienced at least once in a lifetime. Of course, once you’ve attended you might be hooked, planning your whole year around the spring and fall festivals! Leafy fall fashions are encouraged for all, bring a sweater for very cool evenings, and buy your tickets early!

Link:

Lake Eden Arts Festival