Craggy Gardens trails and visitor center to get much-needed face lift

Karen Chávez | The Citizen-Times

Show Caption Hide Caption Craggy Gardens upgrades on the horizon The Craggy Gardens Area on the Blue Ridge Parkway and other areas will see enhancements and upgrades this year with funding from the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation.

ASHEVILLE - Even in summer, it’s often a cold and windy spot on the Blue Ridge Parkway, sitting at elevations ranging from 5,600 to nearly 6,000 feet high. The visitor center is bare bones – no telephone, no flashy exhibits or fancy bathrooms.

Despite all that, the Craggy Gardens area, about 20 miles northeast of Asheville, is one of the most beloved and visited spots on the 469-mile parkway.

All that love has had its toll on the hiking trails and increased the need for visitor services. Funds from the Blue Bridge Parkway Foundation this year will give Craggy Gardens Visitor Center and Craggy Flats Bald Trail a much-needed face lift, along with many other enhancement projects along the parkway.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is among the busiest of the more than 400 sites in the National Park Service, with 15.2 million visitors last year. It also has one a $517 million maintenance backlog, one of the worst in the country.

Each year the Parkway Foundation, the nonprofit fundraising arm of the parkway, helps to chip away at the maintenance needs and fund other necessary programs.

Funding for projects this year include designing a plan for recreation and natural resource management at Waterrock Knob where more than 5,300 acres were added to the scenic spot last year through funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the work of four land conservation groups and millions of dollars in private funds.

Vista restoration at overlooks, expansion of a citizen science wildlife camera program, and other projects will round out this year’s foundation projects.

Repairs to Craggy Flats Bald Trail, a popular wooded path leading from the Craggy Picnic Area to the blueberry-covered bald, which been marred by erosion, will be restored in August by a youth crew with the American Conservation Experience.

Stars to sunrise at Craggy Gardens A time-lapse video from stars to sunrise at Craggy Gardens Visitor Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

“There has been a lot of erosion on that trail over the years. It’s a significant rare plant community,” said parkway botanist Chris Ulrey.

“It’s a bit of a challenge since there are not a lot of roots to hold soil in place, and the trail has become gullies. We’ll be hauling gravel from the picnic areas to fill in the heavily eroded places.”

The Craggy Gardens Visitor Center was built in the late '60s, said parkway spokeswoman Leesa Brandon. The trail shelter was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The rustic nature of the area will remain, she said.

“That location lends itself to being more of an outside than an inside type of visitor center. The real experience is being outdoors,” she said.

Old interior exhibits will be refurbished as well as wayside panels interpreting the area’s history, air quality, weather, climate and vegetation.

The Craggy projects will cost $30,600 and the fundraising goal for other projects slated for this year is $953,497, said Rita Larkin with the parkway foundation

The nonprofit is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

“We’ve created a community of stewards that spurs us forward with their enthusiasm and passion for their park,” said Carolyn Ward, CEO of the parkway foundation.

Since 1997, the foundation has worked with donors to invest more than $12 million in critical parkway projects, including construction of restrooms at Graveyard Fields, building of boardwalks on Rough Ridge Trail, the expansion of the Linville Falls Overlook, and the launch of the Kids in Parks program.

The Parkway Foundation is also raising funds to pair with money allocated by Congress to address critical parkway repairs through the Centennial Challenge, in which donor gifts will be matched by federal funding.

For more information, visit www.brpfoundation.org.

Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation 2017 project list