The October 2024 Issue

Underneath Humpback Mountain, a stalactite-riddled cave serves as a shelter, habitat, and source of awe with its near-ethereal ecosystem.

The Monteith sisters were like many Appalachian women: hardworking, determined, and resourceful. Today, their former home helps preserve a rural way of life.

In a Haywood County bookstore, among worn spines and faded hardcovers, are western North Carolina tales and the stories of those who’ve cherished them.

After decades of caring for animals in western North Carolina, an expert woodworker crafts heritage carvings that look ready to take flight.

A business owner in Haywood County forwent traditional advertising methods, instead enticing customers with a giant red rocker.

In the Foothills, livermush sustained families when times were tough. Now, locals pay tribute to the dish — lovingly nicknamed Piedmont pâté — at an all-day event.

Before becoming an award-winning author, Ron Rash tended the cemetery near his family’s Watauga County farm. His latest novel, inspired by that burial ground, explores the relationship between the living and the dead, and how those who’ve gone are never forgotten.

12 Bones Smokehouse, a beloved barbecue joint near the banks of the French Broad River, has gone through many changes: location, owners, a new brewery. But no matter where it goes or what’s on the menu, the tables are always full and the ’cue always tender.

Inspired by her grandmother, a McDowell County woman swirled together cinnamon and dough in the kitchen where she learned how to bake. Now, she shares her sweets with the whole community at Gogo’s Cinnamon Rolls.

A city girl visited the remote corners of western North Carolina and uncovered a lifestyle — and flavors — that, decades later, she’s never forgotten.

In Appalachia, burgoo is often made with venison, squirrel, rabbit, and/or pheasant. For this recipe, we’ve adapted the ingredients to be more widely accessible.

Fall is the perfect time for apples to be stewed, used in fried hand pies, made into apple butter, or baked into a warm, sweet bread.

This dish is often made with ramps, which have a short growing season in the spring. Leeks are the perfect autumn alternative.

In North Carolina, turnips are in season from October to December and April to June. They’re known to be an Appalachian comfort food in the winter months.

A bushel, a peck — oh, what the heck: For a full taste of this region, we insist that you sample the sweet stuff. Here’s our guide to glazed, sugar-coated, and can’t-miss farm fare.

Celebrate the season in North Carolina’s capital of apples by exploring you-pick orchards, pumpkin patches, and corn mazes with a sweet fried treat.

By day, this adventure park in the Triad is a fall festival to die for. By night, the undead come alive for Halloween tricks. Welcome to one man’s vision of year-round merrymaking.

North Carolina’s border dances across the mountains as it traces four different states. Life here can be more remote, but good neighbors are never far away.

The story behind Andrews Geyser is deep, complex, and as irrepressible as the man-made fountain itself. It goes back to the 1870s, when the railroad finally climbed the Blue Ridge Escarpment near Old Fort. The tragic cost of that achievement is still being uncovered today.

For young North Carolinians, learning the haunted history of our state — whether in a classroom or around a campfire — is a rite of passage.

What began as a gathering of growers looking for ways to improve North Carolina farming has evolved into a showcase of the best in food and fun that our state has to offer.

For artist Kent Paulette, creativity arrives when he’s surrounded by nature, knee-deep in a creek.

Located about halfway up Grandfather Mountain, this recently renovated center offers interactive exhibits to connect visitors with the area’s natural heritage.

Handmade goods are a living, breathing tradition in our mountain communities. For almost a century, the Southern Highland Craft Guild has preserved trades like weaving, carving, metalworking, and more.

A world-renowned North Carolina artist found success in the Northeast, but his inspiration came from the time he spent in Blowing Rock.

The most famous house in Asheville is known for its sheer size and lavish features. A closer look at the beauty built into its very walls reveals George Vanderbilt’s love of art, literature, and the exquisite views around his chosen home.

Art galleries — beautiful and intriguing backdrops to the works they display and sell — are tucked among hills and valleys throughout western North Carolina.

The Steep Canyon Rangers have soared to great heights, playing some of the most iconic stages in the world. Yet their roots remain firmly planted in the mountains of North Carolina.

Classical, rock, bluegrass, or folk — whatever genre you seek can be found at one of these venues around western North Carolina.

A writer eager to explore the world feels the pull of his family homeplace in the pages of mountain authors’ words.

Sure, you’ve read the masterpieces that put western North Carolina on the literary map — Cold Mountain; Look Homeward, Angel — but make room on your bookshelf for some newer recommendations from mountain booksellers.

A Highlands baker combines sugar, flour, and imagination to create edible masterpieces.

Not far from downtown Boone, a lifelong gardener tends his 26 acres with the precision of a doctor and the vision of an artist.

The Blue Ridge Parkway stands out among America’s national parks: Unfurling across six Appalachian mountain chains, it connects dozens of rural communities and binds together generations of families through shared memories.

For some drivers, the Blue Ridge Parkway is the portal to our state’s soaring peaks and offers the sights and routes that remind them of home.

Each fall, folks flock to western North Carolina to see the changing leaves along mountain roads and at parkway vistas. But for those looking for a bit of novelty, there are more creative ways to take in the colors.