Welcome to Ecologistix


Welcome to Ecologistix! I know the name's a little strange, but I think it lends itself well to the content. This is a blog for hikers, about hiking. My girlfriend and I thought it would be cool to start a blog where we could share our hiking experiences with the world and in turn, learn about the hiking experiences of other outdoor enthusiasts.

In the past six months we've made two trips to the mountains of Western North Carolina. That's right, two trips. We are hikers of the 'we'll hike anywhere once; twice if we like it' variety and there is a lot to like in N.C. In fact, we had such a great time that we are planning a third trip to The Land of Waterfalls next month. In the meantime, you can read about our two previous excursions in the posts that follow.

Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to send comments, questions, suggestions for future posts, and especially tales of your experiences hiking the great outdoors. We look forward to hearing from you.

Hike On!


Saturday, October 2, 2010

Land of Waterfalls


Transylvania County, N.C. - Land of Waterfalls

Few things in the natural world are as awe-inspiring as the sight of water plummeting off the side of a mountain precipice, free-falling hundreds of feet, and crashing noisily into a rock-strewn pool below. There is nothing so exhilarating as hiking into a deep river gorge and boulder-hopping your way to the base of these majestic hydro-displays. For the connoisseur of the plunge, Transylvania County, North Carolina is a waterfall mecca.

The area's unique geography and temperate rain forest climate combine to provide waterfall hunters with some 250 magnificent cascades to explore and enjoy. Many of the area’s most beautiful waterfalls are easily accessible, while others require strenuous hikes or difficult and dangerous descents. For the less adventurous, many of the most popular falls can be seen from lookouts along Highways US-64, US-276, and NC-281.

Transylvania County is also home to hundreds of miles of mountain streams and over 1000 miles of hiking and biking trails that provide access to some of the most diverse plant and animal life in the country. Gorges State Park for instance, is home to roughly 125 rare plant and animal species and 12 endangered or threatened species, including Oconee Bells, very rare flowering plants which are abundant in the gorges of the park. Gorges State Park is also home to one of the nation's largest Black Bear sanctuaries.

We plan to explore this area further on our next trip, so look for future posts on Gorges at a later date.

Hike On!


Transylvania County is located in the Appalachian Mountains of Western North Carolina, approximately 35 minutes Southwest of Asheville via U.S. Highway 280.
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