Press Room

• Grand Opening of Destination Center Marks New Era for Blue Ridge Parkway
• An Afternoon of Celebration at the New Blue Ridge Parkway Destination Center
  
  -Photos for download
  -More info on Destination Center
  -Destination Center fact sheet
  -Directions to Destination Center
  
  
• Go Blue Ridge Card Names a Top Tourism Booster - 1/28/08
• Heritage Area Launches On-Line Traditional Artist Directory - 1/22/08
• BRNHA Announces New Visitor Research Findings - 6/4/07
• Go Blue Ridge Card Launched - 5/21/07
• Rep. Shuler Announces 2007 BRNHA Funding - 4/23/07
• May 2007 Marketing Boot Camp - 3/2007
• 2006 BRNHA Grant Awards Announced – 1/12/07
• Current Activities and Future Plans – 6/30/06
• 2006 BRNHA Grants Program Announced – 6/7/06
• 2005 BRNHA Grant Awards Announced – 1/4/06
• 2005 BRNHA Grants Program Announced – 9/26/05
• BRNHA Names Executive Director – 4/25/05

          History & Statistics 

• Date of designation: November 10, 2003
  
  
• Number of National Heritage Areas: 37 (Blue Ridge National Heritage Area was number 24)
  
  
• Counties included: Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Surry, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, Yadkin, and Yancey.  The Qualla Boundary is also included.
  
  
  A Region of National Significance
  
  Established by Congress in November, 2003, the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area recognizes and celebrates the natural abundance and richly varied cultural history of the North Carolina mountains.
  
  In designating Western North Carolina a National Heritage Area, Congress recognized that the cultural and natural resources of the Blue Ridge Mountains have played a significant role in the history of the United States and the State of North Carolina.
  
  Some of the treasures that make this region one of America's defining landscapes are:
  
  
• The highest mountain east of the Mississippi – Mount Mitchell, rising to an elevation of 6,684 feet. 
   
• The deepest gorge in the Eastern United States – Linville Gorge, located in a Wilderness Area within the Pisgah National Forest.  
  
  
• The oldest river in North America – the New River, which originates in the Blue Ridge Mountains and is believed to be 320 million years old. 
  
  
• The most visited National Park lands in the country – the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, world-renowned for its biodiversity, and the Blue Ridge Parkway, America's longest scenic highway.  
  
  
• The Southeast's most popular whitewater river – the Nantahala River, where whitewater rafting was pioneered. 
  
  
• One of the oldest mountains in North America – Grandfather Mountain, a globally recognized nature preserve. 
  
  
• The ancestral homeland of the Cherokee – the Qualla Boundary, home of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. 
  
  
• The first school of forestry in America – the Cradle of Forestry National Historic Site. 
  
  
• America's largest home – Biltmore Estate.