Hiking in Highlands & Native Plants for Birds

Hiking is a much-enjoyed past time in the Chinquapin area. This website's Maps and Trails page provides great details on hiking within Chinquapin, and the maps posted at the Panthertown National Forest Salt Rock Gap parking area details trails there.This link takes you to important information to make your Panthertown hike safe. https://panthertown.org/vieventsevsit/

Another place to enjoy hiking is in the Highlands area.

The Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust protects natural resources, and provides recreational and environmental education opportunities on the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau. Its Hiking Trails pamphlet shows 6 hikes of varying difficulty: Satulah Mountain Preserve, Brushy Face Preserve, Ravenel Park (Sunset Park), Kelsey Trail, Rhododendron Park, and Dixon Park. Detailed maps of each trail are on the Trust’s website, too. Watch for the Trust's events and programming

that it presents in Cashiers and Highlands. Its website is www.hicashlt.org.

The Native Plants for Birds in North Carolina pamphlet explains the importance and usefulness of NC mountain area native plants and describes different plants and their purposes. Native plants occur naturally in an area. Why are native plants so important? About 96% of land birds require insects as food for their young, native plants provide that food source. Planting native plants helps counteract the imbalance caused by non-native plantings. It also lists some invasive plants to avoid planting.