This Land, Your Land

The Conservation Trust for North Carolina announced Monday that it has bought 12 acres along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Cumberland Knob that will be donated to the National Park Service.

The 12.7 acres near Milepost 220.6 is known as the Roaring Fork Headwaters II and contains headwater streams of Roaring Fork, a tributary of the Fisher River, and of the Yadkin River, which provides drinking water for a million people in the Piedmont, the CTNC said in a news release.

The newly acquired land abuts the 49-acre Roaring Fork Headwaters I, which was given to the NPS in 2010, and Saddle Mountain Vista, a 201-acre property donated to the NPS in 2007.

The three parcels are in Alleghany and Surry counties, north of the 3,400-acre Saddle Mountain wilderness area and south of the 2,000-acre Cumberland Knob recreation area.

"Each time we add to the Blue Ridge Parkway’s protected landscape, we assure that millions of visitors will continue to enjoy a spectacular, unspoiled landscape," Parkway Superintendent Phil Francis said in the news release. "This acquisition is essential to expanding wildlife habitat, protecting drinking water and maintaining the beautiful views so many people come here to see."

This year's celebration of the Blue Ridge Parkway's 75th anniversary culminates September 10-12 at the Blue Ridge Music Center (Milepost 213) and the Cumberland Knob Recreation Area (MP 217). The celebration will include music, food, history discussions, craft demonstrations and many more activities for all ages.

Performances on the Blue Ridge Music Center stage include Sierra Hull & Highway 111 on Friday, Dr. Ralph Stanley & His Clinch Mountain Boys on Saturday, and shape note singing with Laura Boosinger and the bluegrass gospel of The Churchmen on Sunday.

There will also be some jamming tents, nature walks, storytelling, films, Appalachian craft demonstrations, an antique camper exhibit, children's activities, and more.

It's all free, including the speeches by politicians on Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Construction on the Blue Ridge Parkway began near Cumberland Knob - just south of the Virginia/N.C. line - on September 11, 1935.