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| The Beaver Dam Gap Trailhead on the Blue Ridge Parkway |
If you're ever in Asheville, NC, get on the Blue Ridge Parkway
and take a walk on one of the many hiking trails found at various
mile markers along the way. We got off the parkway at the
Beaver Dam Gap Overlook at mile marker 401.7 and took a walk.
This trail is considered "moderate to strenuous" because of the
many hills you have to climb; so take that into consideration.
Before you get on the trail, explore the area around the parking lot.
There are many different wildflowers and fruits to be seen at this
time of year (July).
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| Right behind the sign are these Peach Trees filled with large peaches. |
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| Leather Vasevine (Clematis viorna) |
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| Seeds with tails. Information on Clematis viorna |
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| The flowers and fruit of Solomon's Seal. |
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| The fruit of Solomon's Seal. Info on Solomon's Seal |
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| Spiderwort Information |
After we explored the Trailhead we began our walk on the trail
to the right of the sign, walking northward.
to the right of the sign, walking northward.
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| The beginning of the trail, walking northward. |
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| The fruit of Solomon's Plume (aka False Solomon's Seal, but I do not like to use the negation of another plant as a name; show it some respect by giving it its own name). Information |
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| A continuous climb...sometimes gradual, sometimes steep. |
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| A Beech Fern species |
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| Lopseed (Phryma leptostachya) |
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| Downy Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera pubescens) |
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| This trail is covered with many kinds of ferns. |
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| The canopy kept it relatively cool the entire walk. |
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| Cow Wheat (Melampyrum lineare) |
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| Galax or Beetleweed (G. urceolata) |
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| Sterile Fronds of Interrupted Fern (Osmunda claytoniana) |
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| Take the hills slowly, observing all the plants and fungi around you. |
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| Pycnanthemum muticum (Short-toothed Mountain Mint) |
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| I love the look of the landscape! |
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| A Mint species with pollinator. |
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| This area has the most biological diversity in North America! |
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| Yellow Stargrass (Hypoxis hirsuta) For Information, click here. |
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| Flowering Spurge (Euphorbia corollata) Information |
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| A great variety of tree species! |
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| A moderate to strenuous trail. |
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| Whorled Coreopsis (C. major) For Information, click here |
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| After about an hour we turned around at this point. On the return trip I always see something I missed earlier... so stay observant. |
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| Neat looking Daddy Longlegs. They are NOT poisonous in any way; it's a myth that they are! Read about the myth, here. |
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| The most ferns I've ever seen on a walk. |
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| Lady Fern? |
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| The descent back. |
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| Found a small patch of Clubmosses, which are not really mosses. They are non-flowering, seedless plants. Info on Shining Clubmoss |
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| This dead part of a tree is covered with lichens. A lichen is actually two species (fungus and algae) living as one, a mutualistic relationship. Read up on Lichens |
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| A very large fungus growing on the side of the hill. |
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| Lots of Mountain Laurels! Info on Mt. Laurel |
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| The end of a Christmas Fern frond has fertile pinnules (leaflets); the ones below them are sterile. The underside of the fertile pinnules have sporecases, not flowers; ferns are flowerless and seedless plants. Info on Christmas Ferns |
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| One of my favorite ferns, a Northern Maidenhair. Notice its unique shape. Click here for Info |
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| An unusual Dogwood tree...the Alternate-leaved Dogwood, or Pagoda Dogwood. |
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| The only Dogwood tree with alternate leaves, not opposite. For Info, click here. |
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| Learning plant characteristics...leaves, flowers, fragrance. |
Back at the Trailhead we saw this plant with unusual flowers!
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| Tall or Poke Milkweed (Asclepias exaltata) Click here for Information |
What a great walk!! You must stop and walk one or many of these
trails off of the Blue Ridge Parkway...they're beautiful.
If you don't have a map, just walk one way for a certain amount
of time and then head back on the same trail. You'll see some
stunning plants, animals, and fungi and have a good walk.
Get out and explore your surroundings!!
trails off of the Blue Ridge Parkway...they're beautiful.
If you don't have a map, just walk one way for a certain amount
of time and then head back on the same trail. You'll see some
stunning plants, animals, and fungi and have a good walk.
Get out and explore your surroundings!!
