Highlights of the Carolina Outdoors

Segment 4, December 21st, 2024 The Laurel Forks Trail is closing for the next eighteen months started on January 6, 2025.  Over 300,000 hikers use the trail every year in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.  The closure is to rehabilitate and restore the trail, parking, and viewing platforms.the traild for eighteen months.  . Segment Highlights: 300,000+ hikers utilize the trail It is located...

December 14, 2024 A recent fire near the Crowders Mountain State Park remind Bill and about the famed Smoky Bear ad campaign. Segment Highlights: Smoky Bear was started as a PSA to educate about unplanned wildfires The first campaign began 80 years ago in 1944. The real cub rescued from a fire resided in the Washington, DC Zoo had to receive its own zip code due to the amount of fan mail. Things Y...

Segment 3, December 14th, 2024 Talking to people that are making outdoor things happen is one of the missions of the Carolina Outdoors.  This segment features someone that has found the attributes of the outside to make himself and others better. Scott Wurtzbacher is a realtor, podcaster, traveler, adventurer, & now an author. He had a chance to speak with host Bill Bartee about his pursuits....

Segment 3, December 7th, 2024 Talia Freeman joined the Carolina Outdoors to talk about Beech Mountain .  The Resort had some roadways washed out and communication trouble in the aftermath of the storm Helene.  However, these problems were quickly rectified and Beech Mountain Resort is already open for a successful winter. Show Highlights: Beech is bustling with visitors The winter has started well...

Segment 2, November 30th, 2024 Superintendent Glen George & his team oversee the property of Crowders Mountain State Park.  He’s been the leader since 2017 after serving at other parks in the NC State Park system including Chimney Rock State Park that was damaged by the storm, Helene.  George recently spoke to host of the Carolina Outdoors, Bill Bartee, about the responsibilities & c...

Segment 3, November 30th, 2024 The SouthPark Municipal District was created by the City of Charlotte in 2022.  The goal was to help manage & maintain the successful shopping, business, restaurant, residential, & entertainment district within the city.  This is also the home of Carolina Outdoor sponsor , Jesse Brown’s.  Host Bill Bartee recently spoke with President/CEO Adam Rhew of S...

Segment 2, November 16th, 2024 When we last spoke with our next guest, we had a sneak preview of a proposed restoration project involving NC’s most prolific cold water fish hatchery, the  Bobby N. Setzer Hatchery in Pisgah forest. Of course Helene’s devastation brought unimaginable devastation to property, lives, & communities across parts of WNC.  It also has caused a possible change of plans...

November 16th, 2024 One of my charges here on the Carolina Outdoors is introducing you, the listener, to gems along the way.  Especially those gems that are right here under our noses. Timothy DeLisle, Director of Software Engineering of the Pisgah Astronomy Research Institute (PARI) joined host Bill Bartee to talk about this “one-of-a-kind” place located in Rosman, NC, whose mission i...

November 16th, 2024 Segment length: 2:30 There are tons of things happening in the Charlotte-area this weekend. Segment Highlights: Novant Health Charlotte Marathon is taking place.  Check out the map and prepare for your journey on Saturday. Upcoming at the fly shop in Charlotte , Jesse Brown’s.  Brian Hester, author of She Talks to Fish and NC Wildlife Resource Commission biologist Jake Ra...

Who’s been to the top of Africa the most?  In the Charlotte-area it is  Macon Dunnagan .  He started climbing the mountain twenty-two years ago & has done it fifty times.  He’s an author, adventurer, & through his climbs he’s been recognized by a North Carolina governor & is currently an ambassador of travel for Tanzania. Show Highlights: He’s been climbing Kilimanjaro long...

Segment 3, November 9th, 2024 How are so many of the places that we enjoy going to maintained?  Usually it is active advocacy groups that help care, manicure, & keep clean properties that are impactful to our community.  It’s kind of like being a friend.  Dewey Matherly has chaired the Friends of Crowders Mountain group for the past eleven years.  He took a moment to join host Bill Bartee to s...

Segment 1, October 26th, 2024 Producer TJ Boggs recently western North Carolina (Hendersonville, NC) to spend some money. Charlotte’s local outfitter store   is the sponsor of the Carolina Outdoors Segment Highlights: Western North Carolina continues to reel from the after effects of Helene & now the economic disaster with the missing tourism.   Review of the towns that are asking for vi...

Segment 2, October 26th, 2024 Tree Climbing Stories   inspired by seeing the tree canopy from a different perspective.  Producer TJ Boggs & Host Bill Bartee share stories about flying drones and climbing trees. TJ promised to help get a friends drone out of a tree that revived Bill’s memory of attempting to to retrieve his son’s drone when he was eleven years old. . Charlotte&#8217...

Segment 3, October 26th, 2024 We try to prepare for the seasons appropriately on the Carolina Outdoors & one of those seasons is already in affect across both Carolinas.  It’s deer season in the Carolinas . Ridr Knowlton has recently been featured in a recent Gray’s Sporting Journal magazine, he’s the co-host of the adventure travel podcast Untamed Pursuits , & the author of Th...

Review of the towns that are asking for visitors & those that aren’t.  There is a chance of a secondary financial disaster from the after affects of Helene.  Western North Carolina does 1/5 of North Carolina’s Tourism & Hospitality trade each year.  Since the storm & requests that people not visit, many communities that weren’t affected by the storm are not getting to...

The county seat of Cleveland county, Shelby, is hosting the North Carolina LIvermush Festival , & Emily Epley from Visit Cleveland County joins the Carolina Outdoors to talk about it. Show Highlights: Livermush is made with pork products, cornmeal, & seasonings that utilize all the parts of a pig. It is a cousin of scrapple that is mainly popular in Pennsylvania & Ohio Shelby & Cle...

Segment 3, October 19th, 2024 The Carolina Outdoors is celebrating the harvest with the 2024 NC State Fair.  Host Bill Bartee speaks with Heather Overton with NC State Fair Show Highlights: Western NC is well represented in this year’s fair.  They bring a strong contingent of apples, pumpkins, livestock, & crafts The Flower and Garden Show includes a Mum Tree that is a great place for a...

Segment 3, October 12th, 2024 We’ve heard the stories of disaster in regards to Helene.  We’ve also heard about recovery & communities coming together to aid. Sara Bell founded Green River Adventures in 2006 & later added The Gorge Zipline to the portfolio of adventure & recreation in Saluda, NC.  This community in Polk County, NC, was impacted by the rising water of the Green River &#...

Segment 2, October 5th, 2024 The devastation of Helene has been documented over the past week.  The after affects continue along with the good news of communities coming together to help. Adam Suggs has joined us on the program to talk about mountain adventures, back to school and back to college moments. But in the past week he was in Boone, NC, as the rain begins to fall.  We’ll find out about h...

Segment 2, October 5th, 2024 Growing up in New York!  Going to college in Boston!  Taking on a Thru Hike in 1991!  James Smith has quite a resume of outdoor accomplishment & adventure in his career.  However, what led him to lead one of the hottest new businesses in the Charlotte-region. James Smith started MYOUTDOORJOY a year & ½ ago & it has enjoyed a large amount of growth in helpin...

Segment 3, September 28th, 2024 David Gaskins always brings great information on the big game hunts from the west.  His nickname, First Day Dave, came from prior seasons where he & clients have gotten the deer that they wanted on the “first day” with 7-Jay Outfitters in Sundance, Wyoming. Over the years Gaskin has given us pointers.  An emergency situation was added to the list Get...

Hayward Douglas, Executive Director of the Foothills Trail Conservancy (FTC) has been a part of this 77-mile footpath since 1989.  This replay from 2022 pulled Douglas from a trail maintenance gathering on the trail. Show Highlights: Douglas talks about improvements in bridges and railings along the trail Private-Public Partnership has helped evolve the trail through the years including Duke, Nati...

Segment 2, September 21st, 2024 Mark Rehbein, Development Director for the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, joins host Bill Bartee to talk about bonefish & tarpon & the science of their population & their conservation.  Both of these fish species live in the fairly shallow, tropical saltwaters of Mexico, Florida, Bahamas, and even the Carolinas. Show Highlights: Rehbein shares that Tarpon...

Segment 3, September 21st, 2024 Palmer McIntyre took some time to stop by and visit with host Bill Bartee about her friendship, adventures, & research of the newest North Carolina guidebook, that was just released.  The book Trails & Treats: A Hiker and Runners Guide to Great Trails & Good Eats in North Carolina covers four segments & thirty trails across the state.  It also featur...

Segment 2, September 14th, 2024 Stewart Wallace is a Senior at Myer’s Park High School.  Through his youth he’s been a part of lacrosse teams, loves basketball, & being a Scout.  He has served his community in different ways including when he was twelve years old with the repair and replacement of basketball rims & nets in local parks. As he approaches the age of eighteen he recently led t...