Carolina Mountain Club, the oldest hiking and trail maintaining club in the South, is celebrating one hundred years in 2023. Local author Danny Bernstein shares the history of hiking, trail maintenance, and land protection in Western North Carolina in her recent book, Carolina Mountain Club: One Hundred Years.

One hundred years holds a rich history for Carolina Mountain Club and Bernstein has compiled these stories. In the 1920s and 1930s the club built most of the Appalachian Trail in the South. In the 1980s, club members started building the Mountains-to-Sea Trail through western North Carolina and protected Max Patch from development, Recently CMC spoke out against building the North Shore Road through the most pristine part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and is currently taking part in the Pisgah-Nantahala Forest plan. The club now leads five hikes a week, year round. It maintains over four hundred miles of trail.

In partnership with Asheville Museum of History, Buncombe County Special Collections will host a conversation with the author and Asheville Museum of History Public Programs Director Trevor Freeman on Tuesday, June 20 at Pack Memorial’s Lord Auditorium. A slide presentation will feature historic photos and current activities. Bernstein will sign books after the program. All proceeds will go to Carolina Mountain Club. Cash or checks only, please.

About Danny Bernstein

Danny is a hiker, hike leader, and outdoor writer. She’s written several outdoor books of the area. In her previous life, she was in computer science, way before computers were cool, first as a software developer, then as a professor of computer science.

About Trevor Freeman

Trevor Freeman is a multi-generational western North Carolina native and holds an MA in American History. He has worked or interned in several parks and battlefield sites and is now the public programs director for the Asheville Museum of History. His research interests include the American Revolution as well as Appalachian and environmental history. An avid hiker, paddler, and fly fisher, you will often find him exploring or leading outings in the places he writes about.

When: Tuesday, June 20 | 6:00 - 7:30 PM

Where: Lord Auditorium, Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St.

Entry is free, books will be available for purchase with cash or checks only. All proceeds benefit Carolina Mountain Club.

Pictured: Danny Bernstein, courtesy of Carolina Mountain Club