News

Cradle of Forestry celebrates mountain traditions

By Bill Moss, Published: September 30, 2015

PISGAH FOREST — The Cradle of Forestry will celebrate the heritage of Western North Carolina and the founding of forestry in America during the annual Forest Festival Day on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Cradle’s biggest event of the year, the family event commemorates the traditions of mountain living and craft in a unique and beautiful setting. More than 100 forestry students, traditional craftsmen and exhibitors will be on site during the celebration. During the event, eight colleges will compete for a trophy in the 20th Annual John G. Palmer Intercollegiate Woodsmen’s Meet organized by Haywood Community College and sponsored by Stihl chainsaws.
Competitors are from Haywood Community College, Warren Wilson College, Penn State Mont Alto, Montgomery Community College, North Carolina State University, Dabney Lancaster Community College in Clifton Forge, Virginia, Penn College in Williamsport, Pa., and Western Carolina University.
The Woodmen’s Meet is held in the open field at the Pink Beds Picnic Area. The Pink Beds Picnic Area and Pink Beds trailhead will be closed to non-event use for the day. Traditional crafters and exhibitors will be in place along the trails. These include demonstrations of whittling, woodcarving and turning, horse and mule packing, blacksmithing, primitive skills and making corn husk dolls. Festivalgoers can learn to cut a tree “cookie” with a crosscut saw and take it home.
Accents on Asheville will provide a shuttle between the Forest Discovery Center and the Pink Beds for those unable to walk the trail to the Woodsmen’s Meet. Hob Nob at the Cradle will sell food.
The Forest Festival Day celebrates the Cradle of Forestry as the birthplace of modern forestry in America. Carl Alwin Schenck, forester for George Vanderbilt’s Biltmore Estate from 1895 to 1909, founded America’s first forestry school in 1898 and used the present-day Cradle of Forestry area as its summer campus.
Admission for this event is $6 for ages 16 and older; $3 for youth ages 4-15, and holders of America the Beautiful and Golden Age passes. Children under 4 are admitted free. The Cradle of Forestry is located four miles south of Parkway Milepost 412 on Hwy. 276 in the Pisgah National Forest, six miles north of Looking Glass Falls.