Ever wanted to get up close and personal with crayfishes, mussels, aquatic snails, and salamanders?
Get your chance this spring with the Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail, which offers folks a distinctive and illuminating wildlife recreation opportunity via a series of publicly accessible river snorkel sites.
A collaboration between the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and partners Mainspring Conservation Trust and MountainTrue, the trail will span 10 pilot sites throughout WNC, encompassing the Catawba, French Broad, Hiwassee, Little Tennessee, and Yadkin river basins. The sites are expected to open in late spring.
Each site on the trail will be marked by signage featuring water safety information and aquatic species folks may encounter on each site.
The 10 pilot sites are:
- Joseph McDowell Historical Catawba Greenway, Town of Marion
- Canton Recreation Park Boat Ramp, Town of Canton, Haywood Waterways Association, Inc.
- Mills River Park, Town of Mills River, Mills River Partnership
- Black Mountain Veterans Park, Town of Black Mountain
- Valley River Heritage Park, Town of Andrews
- Bryson City Island Park, Town of Bryson City
- East LaPorte River Access Park, Jackson County
- Joyce Kilmer Bridge Fishing Access, United States Forest Service
- Queen Branch Nature Preserve, Mainspring Conservation Trust
- Stone Mountain State Park, NC Division of Parks and Recreation
Want more info? Get additional details on the Trail’s website before its launch later this spring.
