The Summer Rally has Come and Gone...

Our campus and the landscapes surrounding BRDC were buzzing with enthusiastic naturalists this past weekend as we hosted the third rally of 2023, the Mount Rogers Summer Naturalist Rally! BRDC was excited to share programs on topics that included mushrooms, birds, dendrology, watercolor, summer wildflowers, edible/medicinal plants, freshwater snorkeling, salamanders, astrophotography, beaver ecology, land snails, butterflies, ferns, geology, and raptors. On Friday night, Dr. William Hopkins of Virginia Tech gave an excellent presentation on the Eastern hellbender, or “old lasagna-sides,” if you will, and the current status and research he’s conducting on their populations.

Dr. William Hopkins sharing his presentation, “THE RACE TO SAVE APPALACHIA’S GIANT SALAMANDER, THE EASTERN HELLBENDER”.

Ben Casteel leading his edible/medicinal plant walk.

Our youth participants also got to have their own adventures with our Naturalist Educators, Olivia and Brendan. The group focused on nature journaling, stream ecology, tracks and signs, campfire building, insect study, and of course, they had to test out the fire escape slide in the schoolhouse.

BRDC has been tagging monarchs caught on our campus. This one was tagged with the help of the kids at the rally!

Lots of big smiles during all the youth programming activities!

We had over 100 rally participants share meals together in the dining hall, follow their curiosities in the library, and some stayed on the second and third floors to fully immerse themselves in the rally experience. This was the first Summer Rally that we were able to host in the fully restored schoolhouse, and it was really special to see the campus being explored while in full bloom!

Rally participants exploring the diverse underwater world of a Blue Ridge mountain stream.

Participants of the astrophotography program, led by Jay Martin, had beautiful clear skies above Whitetop Mountain.

As always, none of this would have been possible without the knowledge and commitment of our guides and speaker. We also certainly could not have had a successful rally without the help of our volunteers, many of which were local college students from Emory & Henry College and East Tennessee State University.

With another successful rally in the books, we look forward to our upcoming Fall Rally, scheduled for October 13-15th. Make sure to join and help round out our first full year of seasonal rallies! Stay tuned!

Mount Rogers Summer Naturalist Rally this August!

Mark your calendars, the Mount Rogers Summer Naturalist Rally is August 18-20, 2023! At Blue Ridge Discovery Center, our mission is to inspire curiosity, discovery, and stewardship through the wonders of the Blue Ridge and the Rally exemplifies that.

The Mount Rogers Naturalist Rallies cultivate an environment where exploring and discovering the outdoors is exhilarating and lively. During this event, a wide variety of expert guides will lead participants through various naturalist hikes and presentations that inspire us to explore the Blue Ridge and the wonders of the natural world.

There is something for the entire family with field trips Saturday and Sunday, an expert speaker Friday Night, and nighttime programs. Topics include salamanders, wildflowers, geology, birding, snorkeling, cultural history, mammals, medicinal plants, general natural history and much much more! 

Interested in joining us for meals? We will be offering Friday Dinner, Saturday Breakfast, Saturday Lunch, Saturday Dinner, and Sunday Breakfast for those interested in purchasing. These meals will be available for PRE-ORDER ONLY and will not be purchased at the door, so get your meal tickets before they sell out!

Interested in lodging on our campus? Don’t worry, we have some options for you! Rooms and beds in our Schoolhouse are available for rally goers that want to stay on campus. Our Schoolhouse bedrooms are species themed to further display the fascinating flora and fauna that the Blue Ridge has to offer. We also have primitive campsites that are available for reservation.

If you are interested in reading more about our guides or purchasing rally or meal tickets, check our website for updates

Volunteer Weekend (In Lieu of Summer MRNR)

Dear Rally goers,

We are very disappointed to announce that we have decided to cancel the Summer Naturalist Rally in order to focus our capacity on the construction of the Center. With the center completion date set for the Spring of 2022, we are planning a Grand Opening event during the 48th annual Spring Mount Rogers Naturalist Rally!

We have planned a volunteer weekend in place of the Rally, August 20-22. If you are interested, we have a variety of projects including trail building, bridge building, boardwalk construction, painting and staining, and habitat development. The BRDC staff will be working all weekend, and we will be providing a group dinner on Saturday night to support the efforts. If you are interested in assisting, please email info@blueridgediscoverycenter.org or give us a call at 276-388-3155.

Again, we apologize for this change in plans and we are already missing our usual MRNR group, but we are looking forward to having the Rally in grand fashion in 2022!

Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Summer Naturalist Rally Celebrates the Ecology of the Blue Ridge

Spectacular weather helped make the 2nd annual Mount Rogers Summer Naturalist Rally a wonderful success. The summer gathering is a great addition to the very successful Mount Rogers Naturalist Spring Rally, held for the last 43 years, giving naturalists an opportunity to observe species that change along with the seasons.

The event kicked off with a farm-to-table dinner at the Konnarock Community Center. By partnering with the Independence Farmers Market independencefarmersmarket.org, locally sourced ingredients were the foundation for the meal that staff and volunteers prepared and served.

After dinner, Anne Berry Somers inspired the group as the featured speaker, conveying her personal passion for box turtles. With 10 years of the 100-year Box Turtle Connection project under her belt, she oversees 32 project leaders collecting data on box turtles across North Carolina. This successful citizen science program is a model to be emulated for similar natural history investigations across the Blue Ridge.

Field trips on Saturday included a collaborative hike on Pond Mountain with the Blue Ridge Conservancy, several seasonal options such as butterflies of southwest Virginia, mushrooms, and snorkeling as well as Rally favorites such as edible and medicinal plants, birding and glaciers in the Blue Ridge. With clouds giving way to mostly sunny skies and pleasant temperatures, conditions were perfect for enjoying the bountiful natural history that summer has to offer in the Blue Ridge.

Jane Floyd and Ellie Kirby offered an arts and crafts program for the kids, using elements of nature. Kids drawing and painting a stream scene including our local trout, and scavenged the nearby woods for native plants to press.  In the afternoon, BRDC Intern Amber Olson led the kids in exploring the nearby woods and stream to see what they could discover.

Saturday's clearing weather provided one of the most spectacular night skies you can imagine, perfect for the astronomy and astro-photography programs.

Sunday morning brought fly fishing class and a wildflower walk along the Whispering Waters Nature Trail.

Special thanks to all of the volunteers and committee members who worked hard to make the event a success! The wonderful support of our volunteer guides was greatly appreciated as they lead 19 different field trips during the weekend as well as two kids programs.

With the support and the participation from the public, the 2nd annual Mount Rogers Summer Naturalist Rally was a testament to our hopes of continuing to grow this celebration of the ecology of the Blue Ridge.   

Join BRDC for the Summer Naturalist Rally!

Get Outdoors & Discover New Heights
August 18-20, 2017

EXPLORE THE NATURAL HISTORY OF MOUNT ROGERS, THE CROWN JEWEL OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

The Summer Rally gives us a chance to explore Mt. Rogers in a different season. We have assembled a wide variety of field trips with leaders who are experts in their field and able to make it understandable and interesting for everyone from inquisitive amateurs to accomplished naturalists.

GUIDED TRIPS INCLUDE:

• Mushrooms
• Butterflies
• Wildflowers
• Geology
• Birding
• Salamanders
• Stream Ecology
• Big Trees & More!

FEATURED SPEAKER

Ann Berry Somers, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, will discuss the natural history of the box turtle and the 100-year study The Box Turtle Connection (BTC), now entering its 10th year. 

An award-winning teacher of biology and wildlife conservation, Somers teaches courses on NC wildlife and sea turtles (travelling with students to Costa Rica to collect data). She serves on several conservation organization boards and is a member of the North American Box Turtle Conservation Committee. Her international work includes serving as a consultant for the “Safe Home for Turtles” conservation and education project at the University of Bengkulu in Sumatra, Indonesia.

FRIDAY NIGHT DINNER
5:30PM @ THE KONNAROCK COMMUNITY CENTER

BRDC is excited to partner with the Independence Farmers Market www.independencefarmersmarket.org to provide high quality and locally sourced ingredients!  The meal will feature a meat or vegetarian option, plenty of local veggies, home-made baguettes, and a garden salad to die for. Home-made desserts will finish off the meal.

Dinner is by pre-paid reservation ONLY.  There will be no dinners sold at the door. Registration is due by August 14. Please join us for this great meal, catchup with old friends, and proudly support our local farmers with this opportunity to eat a locally sourced home-cooked meal.