WNC Staff

As tourism continues to rise, local college students size up the economic impact

A new app puts tours of WNC’s beautiful byways at your fingertips

Make it a date with these pairings that offer adventure followed by dinner with a view

After a century of state parks, Western North Carolina’s are more popular than ever

The winding route to Plumtree through far western Avery County on U.S. 19 East is the very definition of a road trip. It’s the kind of byway most people would take only if this out-of-the-way hamlet were the destination itself. But for fans of beer and scenic beauty, a thriving brewery and a cluster of outdoor options are enticing reasons to tour the North Toe River valley’s flower-filled fields.

The WNC Sports Hall of Fame and its organizers build a legacy, and a future, for mountain athletes

A new play based on a historic Burke County true crime case premieres in Burnsville

New Belgium welcomes beer lovers to its East Coast outpost in Asheville

Green River Preserve’s KALE program offers a new approach to learning about agriculture

5 Renovation Projects to Inspire your Next Home Makeover

Tracing the origin of WNC’s preeminent marketing phrase, Land of the Sky

Seed libraries cultivate home gardeners and wholesome food

Last spring, we invited amateur and professional photographers alike to enter our inaugural Images of Western North Carolina Photo Contest, and with so much here to inspire a shutterbug’s focus, more than 600 submissions flooded in. Check out the finalists’ photos as well as the winners of the Amateur and Professional categories on these pages, then visit wncmagazine.com to view other honorable mentions and vote for your overall favorite by January 31. The Readers’ Choice winner will be announced in our March/April issue.

Poet Ellen Bryant Voigt, founder of Warren Wilson College’s writing program, is honored with a MacArthur Genius Award