North Carolina Mountain Birds: Swainson’s Thrush

Close up of a medium sized brown bird with speckled chest facing sideways on a branch in the woods

In the spring, we see lots of migratory birds in western North Carolina — some hang around for the spring and summer, while others are just passing through on their way to another destination. One of those “just passing through” birds is our May 2016 pick in our 12 Months of Birding at the Inn blog series: the Swainson’s Thrush.

Continue Reading…

Repairs to Point Lookout Trail Begin May 31, 2016

The greenway closest to the Inn on Mill Creek, Point Lookout Trail, is getting some much-needed repairs soon! This means that the trail will be closed during the summer of 2016, but the work being done will provide long-term benefits, which is great news because this is a favorite trail for our guests.

Continue Reading…

Spring Hike: Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Craggy Gardens is a section of the North Carolina mountains accessible via the Blue Ridge Parkway, north of Asheville. It has excellent hiking trails, a picnic area, cool mountaintop balds with wild blueberry bushes and dramatic mountain vistas. Read on to see what we saw on our hike of the Craggy Gardens Trail in early May! Hint: Wildflowers galore and other cool stuff that makes us love love love nature.

Continue Reading…