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Visit to cradle of forestry museum in NC

Started by MattJ, July 08, 2015, 09:15:21 PM

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MattJ

If you ever find yourself driving the blue ridge parkway you need to drop in for a visit at the cradle of forestry museum near brevard, nc in pisgah national forest. Beautiful museum and woodlands and very informative. It's where Carl Schenck started the first school of forestry in the U.S. sponsored by the vanderbilt's. The buildings shown are just a few there by the museum and are a house and office he used. Here are a few pictures. 

  

  

  

  

 

WV Sawmiller

Mattj,

   We visited Blowing Rock NC a few weeks back and drove the BRP from exit 8 on I-77 in Va to Blowing Rock. Great drive. Didn't see this place (I assume it was east of us) but did stop at an old settler's cabin and talked to the ranger ladies there. The drive is great with lots of wildlife and the Mtn Laurel was in full bloom.

   My son studied Forestry here in WV and gave me Schenk's book. I think he was from Germany and was brought over by Vanderbilt. Very interesting and informative talking about wood harvesting and priority. He mentioned problem with trees was people needed to be able to make a living off the land in their lifetime. They would cut trees off all land that could be used for row crops, converted more to orchards and cut rest for firewood, lumber, pulp., etc. based on a priority system. Good comments about value of State and National Forests as a reservoir for seeds to regenerate long rotation tree crops.

   Thx for the post.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

beenthere

The poster can edit the pics to make them right-side up.  ;)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

curdog

I always enjoy going to the cradle of forestry. In college we always hosted our fall woodsman event at the cradle.  We'd camp at the pink beds, wake up on Saturday morning to a huge breakfast cooked on a fire and have the competition during the day on Saturday. If I remember it's usually the first weekend of October.  Forestry schools from all over the south all the way to Maryland and Pennsylvania would come to compete.
Thanks for sharing, reminds me that I need to get back over there for a visit.

samandothers

We were on the Parkway this weekend and ate a Mayberry's mill (mile marker 176) where we enjoyed some buck wheat cakes!   I noticed near there a lot of rhododendron that was dead in patches.  Could be 100' of bushes or maybe one every so often.

MattJ

Sorry guys, the pictures show up the correct way on my iphone but then they are rotated on the PC.  I went into the gallery and rotated them, and it shows them rotated correctly when I click preview, but then when I save they are still sideways.  Not sure how to fix this.

Matt

Magicman

They are a bit distorted, but all are now oriented properly.   smiley_thumbsup
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tree-farmer

Great place. It is only about 10 miles from my home, the old small gage train and steam crane are my favorites. One of my great, greats was a settler in Pink Bed valley back in the early years. His grave is still there, but is quite a hike to go to it.
Old doesn't bother me, its the ugly that's a real bummer.

warren46

Been there, done that - It was so good I plan to do it again and maybe again.
Warren E. Johnson
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MattJ

I also was able to buy a biltmore or schenck stick for scaling standing and down trees for $5 from the forest service.  I wanted one for a while and when they were selling nice ones there for $5 I couldn't pass it up. 

Ron Scott

You Know Biltmore Stick. Do You Know Biltmore Pachymeter?
SAF eForester, June 21, 2023
In any introductory forestry course, one of the most basic tools a forester first learns to use is a Biltmore Stick. It was invented by Dr. Carl A. Schenck, the founder of the Biltmore Forest School: the very first professional school of forestry in America.
 
The E-Forester
~Ron

Don P

One of the cabins there was standing in Turkey Pen gap and was used by Vanderbilt's foresters,,, except when he had guests and hunting parties. At those times the foresters threw rye seed around the cabin and moved into a smaller log cabin out back. We were camping in the larger cabin in '77 or so, snow still on the ground. A work crew came in and cleared a helipad. They numbered and moved the cabin that summer and set it up at the cradle of forestry.

About 100 years before all that was originally built... was the real cradle of forestry in the New World  :). The Moravian settlement at Old Salem NC,
The Moravian Foresters | Journal of Forest History: Vol 31, No 1 (uchicago.edu)


twar

All this brings me back to great memories from my childhood and youth in Western N.C., which undoubtedly inspired me too to study forestry and wildlife biology. 

Sod saw

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I assume (there's that dangerous word again) that some one; someplace;  is making Biltmore Pachymeter sticks.  

They do not sound too difficult to make by some one who has more metal working skills than me.

Do any of you know where to purchase one?


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beenthere

south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

SawyerTed

If a "tree person" is in the vicinity of The Cradle of Forestry, it is very worthwhile to drive over to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest near Dillsboro.

It is a real Old Growth Forest  meaning never logged.  There are poplar trees and oak trees 9 feet in diameter and 27 ish feet around and quite tall!   Most are 400 ish years old!

I was amazed by the trees there nearly as much as the giant sequoia trees amazed me.  
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