“I see one!” My 5-year-old son, Mac, takes off toward the first placard, his blond hair lifting with every step. We’re barely out of the car at Lake Tomahawk in Black Mountain, and Mac has already spotted the first pages of the storybook that he knew would be scattered along the lakeside path.
Buncombe County parents can guide their children along the GROW story trail that wraps around Lake Tomahawk. photograph by Tim Robison
Black Mountain’s story trail, installed just last year, is one of roughly 80 across North Carolina. Each features a deconstructed storybook that’s mounted intermittently along a path. Several organizations, including the Black Mountain Library, Buncombe County Public Libraries, the Chamber of Commerce, and other local groups, collaborated to bring Black Mountain’s Greenways Read Out-loud Walking (aka GROW) Trail to life. One of the first books they debuted was Asheville author Cindy Groce’s Hiding in Plain Sight: Friends in the Forest, a children’s book that encourages young readers to look for hidden wonders in the natural world.
Soon after our first excursion, Mac and I return to the lake with my husband and our 3-year-old daughter, Rosie. Once again, Mac takes the lead, this time reading to his sister as he points out the ducks, the knots in nearby trees, and other small miracles that Groce’s book inspires him to discover. Rosie eagerly asks if she can find the next panel. My kids peer down the trail to discover the next pages waiting for them on an electric-blue mat. Mac mischievously looks at her, then at me, and grins: “Race ya!”
Black Mountain Greenways
Read Out-loud Walking Trail
401 Laurel Circle Drive
Black Mountain, NC 28711
(828) 250-4756
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