Details

FIELD | Thursday, June 22, 9 a.m - 4 p.m.

Instructors: Scott Dean & Carson Ellis

$110 Non-member Adult**

(**Arboretum Members receive a 10% discount on all classes.)

Course Capacity: 10

4 hour credit | BRN Elective - Plant Studies or Appalachain Arts & Culture

The Highlands of Roan: the very name sounds like something out of yore. Straddling the border of Tennessee’s Carter County and North Carolina’s Mitchell and Avery Counties, the Roan Highlands is a showcase of biological diversity, punctuated by grassy balds, rhododendron gardens, high-elevation rock outcrops, southern Appalachian bogs, and rich spruce-fir forests. The Roan’s ecosystem, with more than 800 plant species and over 188 bird species, is one of the richest repositories of temperate zone biodiversity on earth, including more federally listed plant species than the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. While home to many distinctive and fascinating species, Roan Mountain is perhaps most famous for its stands of Catawba rhododendron (Rhododendron catawbiense) and flame azalea (Rhododendron calendulaceum), considered the largest natural rhododendron garden in the world and celebrated for spectacular June displays of purple and gold.

Naturalist, wildflower expert, and veteran guide Scott Dean will lead a morning walk along the Appalachian Trail out of Carver’s Gap, accompanied by plant ecologist and horticulturist Carson Ellis, curator of the Arboretum’s National Native Azalea Garden. The afternoon will be spent in the State Park exploring the rhododendron gardens, hiking through a spruce-fir forest, and enjoying the spectacular view from the Roan High Overlook. Participants will have a unique opportunity to learn about the Catawba rhododendron covering Round Bald, the glacial relic cinquefoil found only at our highest elevations, flame azaleas, and, if we’re lucky, the rare and beautiful Gray’s lily. Though mostly focused on the plants, we’ll discuss the ecology of the Balds and consider how elevation affects flora and fauna. An engaging storyteller, Scott embellishes his trail walks with an expansive knowledge of local lore, including what it took to construct the now legendary Cloudland Hotel atop the mountain in 1885.

The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy has been leading the way in stewarding the globally significant and fragile ecosystems of the Highlands of Roan for more than four decades. We may be joined on the hike by SAHC staff, including Roan Stewardship Director Marquette Crockett, to learn more about the collaborative efforts to manage the Roan Massif ecosystem and protect its exceptional natural, cultural and scenic heritage while accommodating non-destructive scientific, educational, and recreational public use.

Registration and Participation in In-Person Classes through the Arboretum:

• Registration for this class will close two days before the class start date.
• Make sure you enter your email address correctly when registering.
• Registrants will be sent a reminder email the day prior to class with the meeting location, current Safety Guidelines, and additional details.
• Access to more information will be available upon registration via your account's Supplemental Content section (if applicable to your class). To learn how to view this information, please use this helpful guide.

*Please add adulteducation@ncarboretum.org to your contacts to ensure our emails do not end up in your spam folder.