Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway

A group of students waits outside the entrance to the Cradle of Forestry in America’s Forest Discovery Center.

The Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education, home to a trout fish hatchery, is marked with three flags out front.

From a rocky vista, the view opens to horizon of pine forests with mountainscapes lining the backdrop. This vast landscape is Shining Rock Wilderness, one of the first wilderness areas to be established with the passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act.

This poster outside the Pisgah Visitor’s Center displays the route of the Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway. It highlights significant historical features along the route by juxtaposing historical pictures with contemporary ones.

Amidst colorful autumn leaves, a vehicle travels along the Forest Heritage Scenic Byway next to Looking Glass Falls, a 30-foot wide, 60-foot high waterfall. The route of the byway was originally a logging railroad route used to transport timber to a nearby sawmill.

A couple enjoys a riverside picnic on a concrete picnic table overlooking the Davidson River.

This bulletin board at the Pink Beds Picnic Area shares key traveler information with visitors. Besides sharing emergency information, camping information and guidance to “leave no trace,” the sign also informs travelers that they are on the Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway, identifying their location along the route.

As shown in this aerial photograph, the area around the Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway was farmed during early community settlement.

This view from the Blue Ridge Parkway looks out over the Pink Beds, an area that was heavily farmed by settlers at the turn of the century.

This historical image shows the entrance arch into Pisgah National Forest as it appeared from 1916 to 1936, until U.S. 276 was built. A historic black car can be seen driving under the columned archway that bears the words “Pisgah National Forest.”

The English Chapel is a small rock church with a white steeple, identified by a stone sign in front of the building, and an interpretive sign to the left of the entrance.

The sunset from the Blue Ridge Parkway over Pisgah National Forest offers a rainbow of landscape color: a band of violet-hued clouds hover over the smoky blue ranges of the Appalachian mountains.

A group of young kids ponder their choice of "treasure" from the geocache they have just found in Pisgah National Forest.

Travelers line up in the summer heat to cool off on Sliding Rock, a 60-foot natural water slide. Two sliders ride together while on-lookers watch from the overlook.

This display inside the Pisgah Visitor Center provides visitors with detailed information about the 79-mile National Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway, highlighting historical points of interest. A brochure case at the base of the display includes byway brochures for guests to take with them along their drive.

Small LED lights on this display inside the Pisgah Visitors Center show off the path of the Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway through the Forest. Other major Forest landmarks are featured on the display, each lighting up when a landmark name is pressed.

Glistening along its border with winter ice, the 30-foot-wide Looking Glass Falls crashes 60 feet to the river below, while visitors enjoy the view from the observation deck just above the river.

This brown public lands road sign identifies an upcoming intersection of the Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway with the Blue Ridge Parkway - a main access road to the byway.

A bronze statue of a man holding a shovel stands in memory of those who served in the Civilian Conservation Corps. Interpretive bulletin boards behind the statue describe information about the trailheads at this location, and share information about the trout that can be found locally.

In the summer splendor, three young boys and a man stand knee-deep in the middle of the Davidson River, casting fishing lines down stream and waiting for a bite.

Signs at this main Brevard intersection identify that turning right will take travelers onto Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway along U.S. 276 toward key points of interest such as the Cradle of Forestry and a Visitor Center.

While travelers at this overlook look down at Looking Glass Falls, they will see this interpretive sign with the Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway logo in the corner. The sign explains the historical qualities of this site. There are seven other interpretive displays along the byway and plans for more in the future.

This large sign is located in a road pull-off just next to the Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway entrance. It shows the major historical and recreational features that travelers will encounter on their route.

As travelers exit the parking lot of the Pisgah Center for Wildlife, a National Forest Scenic Byway sign directs vehicles to turn right onto the Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway.

The top sign identifies the Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway as a North Carolina Scenic Byway; the middle sign identifies the road as a National Forest Scenic Byway; the bottom sign says “Begin,” acknowledging the start of the corridor.