Southern Blue Ridge Hikers

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Southern Blue Ridge Hikers Stewarding Trails, Access and Sustainability Across the Southern Blue Ridge Mountains

This past week we have been hard at work replacing deck boards on Cane Creek Bridge on The Chattooga River Trail. This w...
09/18/2026

This past week we have been hard at work replacing deck boards on Cane Creek Bridge on The Chattooga River Trail. This was a much needed repair as previous boards were rotted and developing holes. We are happy to announce this project is now complete! Thank you to The National Forest Foundation for funding this project, as well as our devoted volunteers for coming out and lending a hand. It was a fun one!

The National Forest Foundations (NFF) is the official nonprofit partner of the U. S. Forest Service and transforms America's love of nature into action for our forests. Working across 193 million acres of National Forests and Grasslands, the NFF leads collaborative efforst that restore land and water, strengthen wildfire resilience, and expand recreation access. The NFF's work is national in scale, local in practice, and generational in impact. Learn more at nationalforests.org

This past week marked the end of our summer intern’s time with us. While we are sad to see them go, we could not be more...
08/16/2026

This past week marked the end of our summer intern’s time with us. While we are sad to see them go, we could not be more proud of the effort and growth of these two throughout the summer. A big thank you to those who came out to show your appreciation for Alex and Carmyn at our guided hike and lunch on Thursday, it was the perfect send off!

Join us next Thursday, August 13th with a guided hike on Glen Falls Trail to celebrate our interns great work this summe...
08/06/2026

Join us next Thursday, August 13th with a guided hike on Glen Falls Trail to celebrate our interns great work this summer. This is a free event and open to all. Please RSVP to [email protected]. See flyer for more details

A few more recent projects in the books! Continuing our focus on Glen Falls Trail in Highlands, we have completed 4 more...
07/30/2026

A few more recent projects in the books! Continuing our focus on Glen Falls Trail in Highlands, we have completed 4 more sets of timber steps, along with adding water diversions and derooting sections of trail. Photo 1 - a project that had previously been left unfinished finally completed by the first lookout of the waterfall. Photos 2 and 3 - a side by side of a derooted area. Photos 4 and 5 - two newly installed staircases added on steep sections of trail. Photo 6 - an addition of stairs and wall to the bottom of an old eroded staircase. We are sad to say our summer intern’s times are soon coming to a close, but we will be hard at work on Glen Falls until that day comes. Come stop by!

Our 3 latest timber projects - all on Glen Falls Trail in Highlands, NC. A before (photo 1) and after (photo 2, 3) of th...
07/06/2026

Our 3 latest timber projects - all on Glen Falls Trail in Highlands, NC. A before (photo 1) and after (photo 2, 3) of the first location, a steep and eroded section of trail. A final shot (photo 4) of the second location, a rooty stretch. Finally, a picture of our completed third location (photo 5), once again a steep and severely eroded area. Plus an add on of a staff photo a kind hiker took. We will continue focusing our efforts on Glen Falls Trail as the summer continues, however the trail remains open. Come out and see us!

This week we have completed the repair of a mudslide section on Glen Falls Trail in Highlands, NC. Cause by Hurricane He...
06/05/2026

This week we have completed the repair of a mudslide section on Glen Falls Trail in Highlands, NC. Cause by Hurricane Helene, this area has been difficult to pass for some time now due to the exposed sloped bare rock face. Thank you to Cullasaja Women’s Outreach for generously funding this project.

The photo series below take you through a step by step of how this was accomplished. First, the sloped bedrock was chiseled to expose a narrow, flat tread (photo 2). The downhill side was then cribbed and filled (photo 3). 4 timber steps were installed (photo 4), and 3 steps proceeding were carved into the remaining bedrock (photo 5). It was a fun one!

Please help us in welcoming our 2 summer interns - Alex and Carmyn! From Western Carolina University and Warren Wilson C...
05/23/2026

Please help us in welcoming our 2 summer interns - Alex and Carmyn! From Western Carolina University and Warren Wilson College, these students will spend the summer learning hands-on about the management of trail systems and their maintenance and restoration. We are very excited for the extra sets of hands and to share the love of contributing to our public lands. Our primary focus will be Glen Falls Trail, beginning with repairing a mudslide.

Generously funded by Cullasaja Women’s Outreach, Southern Blue Ridge Hikers has been working on a bridge installation on...
05/13/2026

Generously funded by Cullasaja Women’s Outreach, Southern Blue Ridge Hikers has been working on a bridge installation on Chattooga River Trail following damage caused by a fallen tree. It has been a couple months of effort, but we are pleased to announce that we have finally completed the bridge and cribbing associated! A huge thank you to Cullasaja Women’s Outreach as well as our dedicated volunteers who put in lots of good work throughout the process. We couldn’t have done it without you! Please enjoy some progress photos below.

A huge thank you to everyone who dedicated their time last week to participate in a volunteer vacation hosted by Souther...
04/14/2026

A huge thank you to everyone who dedicated their time last week to participate in a volunteer vacation hosted by Southern Blue Ridge Hikers. Volunteers from across the U.S. travelled to Highlands, NC to contribute to the enhancement of a beloved local hiking trail, the Chattooga River Trail. The group focused on drainage repair and benching near Norton Mill Creek, a popular summer destination for swimming. Everyone’s efforts and attitudes were greatly appreciated. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Through the American Hiking Society, SBRH just concluded hosting their first of two volunteer vacations. We had an amazi...
03/30/2026

Through the American Hiking Society, SBRH just concluded hosting their first of two volunteer vacations. We had an amazing group of individuals from across the U.S. join us for the common goal of improving a local hiking trail. They did a fantastic job of rebenching and drainage repair on Chattooga River Trail. We were fortunate to have such a driven group to put their efforts into a section that needed lots of love. A big thank you to everyone who donated their time and energy!

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