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A new curated trail across Western North Carolina will soon give residents a chance to explore the underwater world of local streams and rivers.

The Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail was created by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission in partnership with MountainTrue and Mainspring Conservation Trust.

Mountain Habitat Conservation Coordinator Andrea Leslie said the idea for the trail came about during the pandemic when she and her colleague Luke Etchison were trying to find ways to get people to “understand how incredible things are under the water.”

Leslie said one of the goals of the project was to find a way to help others see what they see while working.

“We snorkel as part of our jobs, so we know how incredible it is under the water,” Leslie said. “How can we help others? How can we help the common person understand that and then maybe be more inspired to protect streams and rivers in Western North Carolina?”

There are 10 pilot sites across Western North Carolina for participants to snorkel. Each site is in a different county. The Buncombe County site is located in Black Mountain at Veterans Park. Leslie said the sites were chosen based on their public accessibility. Sites that have a better chance of having cleaner, less cloudy waters were chosen over others.

Each site will have a kickoff event that will feature talks on how to safely snorkel. Biologists will also be present during the events to help guide participants and identify what they are seeing underwater.

The Black Mountain kickoff event is scheduled for July 6 at 6 p.m. in conjunction with the Park Rhythms series at Veterans Park.  

The other sites include:

• Joseph McDowell Historical Catawba Greenway, Marion.
• Canton Recreation Park Boat Ramp, Canton.
• Mills River Park, Mills River.
• Valley River Heritage Park, Andrews.
• Bryson City Island Park, Bryson City.
• East LaPorte River Access Park, Jackson County.
• Joyce Kilmer Bridge Fishing Access, U.S. Forest Service.
• Queen Branch Nature Preserve, Franklin.
• Stone Mountain State Park, Roaring Gap.

Leslie said snorkeling in these rivers is something that is “easy to do,” and all anyone really needs to get started is a mask and a snorkel. She said something as simple as swimming goggles could even be used.

Leslie said she has two goals for what she wants participants to get out of experiencing the Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail.

First, she said she wants people to experience the “wonder.”

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“You wouldn’t know that there are fish underneath the surface that are really common that are like little engineers building nests of gravel that both they and a number of other species of fish use to spawn on,” Leslie said. “You wouldn’t know that unless you saw it underneath the surface. There are all kinds of things happening like that.”

She also described how male fish change to vibrant colors during the spring and early summer.

Leslie said she also hopes experiencing the Snorkel Trail will “inspire people to work to protect streams and rivers” across Western North Carolina.

“I’m all about supporting a more positive relationship between people and the natural environment,” Leslie said. “That’s what we hope this will do.”

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