Pisgah National Forest is a National Forest in the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. The ...

of western

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

. It is administered by the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Nationa ...

, part of the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

. The Pisgah National Forest is completely contained within the state of North Carolina. The forest is managed together with the other three North Carolina National Forests ( Croatan, Nantahala, and Uwharrie) from common headquarters in Asheville, North Carolina. There are local ranger district offices located in Pisgah Forest, Mars Hill, and Nebo.

Name

''Pisgah'' (פִּסְגָּה) is a

Biblical Hebrew Biblical Hebrew (, or , ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanite branch of Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Israel, roughly west of t ...

word with several meanings: it can be used to describe someone’s best achievement; another meaning is the highest point of a mountain. Some translators of the Bible book of

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...

translated the word as a name of a mountain in general, usually referring to Mount Nebo. Lastly, Pisgah also means “summit”.

History

The Pisgah National Forest was established in 1916, one of the first national forests in the eastern United States. The new preserve included approximately 86,700 acres that had been part of the

Biltmore Estate Biltmore Estate is a historic house museum and tourist attraction in Asheville, North Carolina. Biltmore House (or Biltmore Mansion), the main residence, is a Châteauesque-style mansion built for George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 a ...

, but were sold to the federal government in 1914 by Edith Vanderbilt. Some of the forest tracts were among the first purchases by the Forest Service under the Weeks Act of 1911. While national forests had already been created in the western United States, the Weeks Act provided the authority required to create national forests in the east as well. Although tracts in the future Pisgah National Forest were among the first purchased under the Weeks Act, the very first to receive formal approval was the Gennett Purchase in northern Georgia. On March 25, 1921 Boone National Forest was added to Pisgah, and on July 10, 1936, most of Unaka National Forest was added. In 1954 the Pisgah National Forest was administratively combined with the Croatan and Nantahala national forests, collectively known as the National Forests of North Carolina. American forestry has roots in what is now the Pisgah National Forest. The Cradle of Forestry, ( Biltmore Forest School), located in the southern part of the forest, was the site of the first school of forestry in the United States. It operated during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The school was opened and operated at the direction of George Washington Vanderbilt II, builder of the

in Asheville. The Forestry Education offered at Biltmore was taught by Carl Schenk. A native German, Schenk was referred to Vanderbilt when Gifford Pinchot resigned to operate the newly formed Division of Forestry. The Cradle of Forestry and the Biltmore Estate played a major role in the birth of the U.S. Forest Service. Today these lands are part of an educational and recreational area in Pisgah National Forest. Located on the forest property is the Bent Creek Campus of the Appalachian Forest Experiment Station, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1993.

Administration

The Pisgah National Forest is divided into 3 Ranger Districts: the Grandfather, Appalachian, and Pisgah districts. The Grandfather and Appalachian Ranger Districts lie in the northern mountains of North Carolina and include areas such as the Linville Gorge Wilderness, Wilson Creek, the watersheds of the Toe and Cane rivers, Roan Mountain,

Mount Mitchell Mount Mitchell, known in Cherokee as Attakulla, is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the highest peak in mainland eastern North America. It is located near Burnsville in Yancey County, North Carolina in the Black Mountain su ...

, Craggy Gardens, and the Big Ivy/Coleman Boundary area. The Appalachian Ranger District stretches along the

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

border from the

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an American national park in the southeastern United States, with parts in North Carolina and Tennessee. The park straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, w ...

north to

Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

. The Appalachian Trail passes through this section of this National Forest.

Geography

The Pisgah National Forest covers of mountainous terrain in the southern Appalachian Mountains, including parts of the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virg ...

and

Great Balsam Mountains The Great Balsam Mountains, or Balsam Mountains, are in the mountain region of western North Carolina, United States. The Great Balsams are a subrange of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which in turn are a part of the Appalachian Mountains. The most f ...

. Elevations reach over and include some of the highest mountains in the eastern United States. Summit elevations include

Black Balsam Knob Black Balsam Knob, also known as Black Balsam Bald, is in the Pisgah National Forest southwest of Asheville, North Carolina, near milepost 420 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is the second highest mountain in the Great Balsam Mountains. The Great Ba ...

at , Mount Hardy at , Tennant Mountain at , and Cold Mountain at .Trail Guide, South Pisgah Ranger District Including Bent Creek, 5th edition, Pisgah Map Company, 2014. .

, in

Mount Mitchell State Park Mount Mitchell State Park is a North Carolina state park in Yancey County, North Carolina in the United States. Established in 1915 by the state legislature, it became the first state park of North Carolina. By doing so, it also established the ...

, is the highest mountain east of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

and lies just outside the boundary of Pisgah National Forest. The forest also includes tracts surrounding the city of Asheville, the city of Brevard and land in the French Broad River Valley. Recreation includes activities such as

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

, backpacking, and

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

. The land and its resources are also used for

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

, wildlife management, and timber harvesting, as well as the

North Carolina Arboretum The North Carolina Arboretum () is an arboretum and botanical garden located within the Bent Creek Experimental Forest of the Pisgah National Forest at 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, southwest of Asheville, North Carolina near the Blue Ridge Park ...

. The forest lies in parts of 12 counties in western North Carolina. In descending order they are

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the A ...

, McDowell, Haywood,

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

Caldwell Caldwell may refer to: People * Caldwell (surname) * Caldwell (given name) * Caldwell First Nation, a federally recognized Indian band in southern Ontario, Canada Places Great Britain * Caldwell, Derbyshire, a hamlet * Caldwell, Eas ...

Burke Burke is an Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman Monarchy of Ireland, Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (–1206) had ...

, Yancey, Buncombe, Avery,

Mitchell Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territ ...

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People * Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * ...

, and

Watauga Watauga can refer to: ;Places * Watauga, Kentucky * Watauga County, North Carolina * Watauga, South Dakota * Watauga, Tennessee * Watauga, Texas ;Bodies of Water * Watauga Lake in Tennessee * The Watauga River in North Carolina and Tennessee ;S ...

counties.

Forests and old growth

Some of old-growth forests have been identified in the Pisgah National Forest, with in

Linville Gorge The Linville Gorge Wilderness ("The Grand Canyon of North Carolina") is the third largest wilderness area in North Carolina (after Shining Rock Wilderness and Joyce-Kilmer Slickrock Wilderness) and one of only two wilderness gorges in the Sou ...

Rivers and trails

Bent Creek,

Mills River The Mills River is located in Transylvania and Henderson counties, North Carolina, United States is a tributary of the French Broad River. The river flows out of the Pisgah Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest in two forks: the North ...

, and Davidson River - three major streams and tributaries of the French Broad River - are located in the Pisgah Ranger District, which lies on either side of the

Blue Ridge Parkway The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is America's longest linear park, runs for through 29 Virginia and North Carolina counties, linking Shenan ...

south of Asheville, along the Pisgah Ridge and Balsam Mountains. Three long-distance recreational trails - the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, the Shut-In Trail, and the

Art Loeb Trail The Art Loeb Trail is a hiking trail located in Pisgah National Forest in Western North Carolina. The northern terminus is at the Daniel Boone Boy Scout Camp in Haywood County, while the trail's southern terminus is located near the Davidson ...

travel through this district. Also included in the Pisgah Ranger District are the Shining Rock and Middle Prong Wildernesses. The Blue Ridge Parkway transects this National Forest, and many National Forest and Parkway trails intersect.

Recreation

Pisgah National Forest is a popular place for many activities, such as hiking, backpacking, road biking,

, fishing, and

rock climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically a ...

. Popular mountain biking trails include Sycamore Cove Trail, and Black Mountain Loop. Farlow Gap is an expert-level trail, and considered "one of the toughest mountain bike trails in Pisgah National Forest."

Wilderness areas

There are three officially designated wilderness areas lying within Pisgah National Forest that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. * Linville Gorge Wilderness *

Middle Prong Wilderness Middle Prong Wilderness was designated in 1984 and it covers within the Pisgah National Forest in Haywood County, Western North Carolina. The Wilderness Area spans steep, rugged high-elevation ridges ranging from 3,200 to over 6,400 feet, an ...

Shining Rock Wilderness Named for Shining Rock, the Shining Rock Wilderness is a protected Wilderness Area in Haywood County, North Carolina. Its first have been part of the National Wilderness Preservation System since the System was created in 1964. It now includes , ...

Gallery

Image:Pisgah National Forest (waterfall).jpg, A waterfall which can be reached from Daniel Ridge Trail. Image:Pisgah National Forest (icicles).jpg, View from Black Mountain Trail, with icicles in the foreground. Image:Pisgah National Forest (creek running across Farlow Gap Trail).jpg, Creek running across Farlow Gap trail. Image:Pisgah National Forest (Farlow Gap trail sign).jpg, Sign at Farlow Gap trailhead (starting point of downhill bike trail).

References

External links