Get Outside Hike at New River Trail - Gambetta
Join BRDC guides for a hike along the New River Trail! This hike will depart from the Gambetta parking area and travel towards Fries. Families welcome. Activities include a scavenger hunt and the chance to earn a BRDC patch!
Budding Botanist Program
Let your Budding Botanist explore nature in a program designed specifically for preschool aged children.
Get Outside along the Henley Hollow Trail
Join BRDC guides on a short hike along Henley Hollow Trail.
2021 Great Backyard Bird Count
Anyone can participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from the beginning bird watcher to the expert!
Get Outside on the New River Trail
This Saturdays (February 13th), hike begins at 2:00 pm. Activities include a scavenger hunt and the chance to earn a BRDC patch.
Get Outside This Weekend!
Get Outside with BRDC guides on a hike along Beaver Dam Creek Walking Trail!
The Twin County Community Foundation Partners With BRDC for the 2021 Get Outside Program
BRDC’s Get Outside Program, supported by the Twin County Community Foundation, kicks off on Friday, January 1st with the 2021 First Day Hike! Families are invited to join BRDC for this unique program in conjunction with the nationwide First Day Hike event. This program is FREE to participants, but registration is required.
Kettles over Mahogany Rock
BRDC staff and volunteers spent Saturday through Monday looking up!
September & October 2020 Events Calendar
Between capturing the remaining vestiges of summer and welcoming fall, there is a lot to appreciate about September! Can you join us for one of the following events?
Remote Rally Going Strong
Another stellar day on the iNaturalist Project! The leaderboard shows 97 observers with over 2,800 observations and 840 species…WOW! This is so awesome!
Remote Rally Update!
The Mt Rogers Naturalist Rally: Backyard Edition is off to a fantastic start! It is delightful to have so many participants in our iNaturalist project. We love seeing you getting outside to Explore, Discover, and Share with us.
Birding Burke's
Per usual, the weather was cool and damp, but that had no bearing on the birds or the company when ten of us traveled the approximately 10-mile radius of the high elevation limestone valley known as Burke’s Garden. The reason for our February visit? Birds.
The Rain Did NOT Dampen the Weekend
The 45th Annual Mount Rogers Naturalist Rally, held May 10th-12th was a big success!
Experience 2019 with Blue Ridge Discovery Center
In the quiet of the winter woods you may see a blanket of fallen leaves or a dusting of snow and think of the life resting beneath it, awaiting the rains and warmer temperatures of spring before emerging to bloom or forage. But not all life is waiting out the winter.
Earth Day Wildflower Walk
Carol Broderson and special guide, Snow Ferreniea enlightened us with their vast knowledge of wildflowers.
Explorers Go Underground
BRDC's Explorers Club recently travelled to Speedwell to explore underground with expert caver Bill Grose. When the group climbed down into the cave entrance, they found themselves in a wild, seemingly uncharted world. The air was immediately cooler (which is why everyone dressed in layers) and all natural light disappeared. Stalactites hung above like chandeliers.
Early Spring Wildflowers on the New River Trail
On Easter Saturday, 23 people joined Blue Ridge Discovery Center’s Explorers Club for our annual wildflower walk on the New River Trail. The 57-mile trail is the state’s “most narrow state park,” and the section between Low Water Bridge near Fries and Fries Junction, where a 12-mile spur trail heads to Galax, is a special spot for early spring wildflowers. Hike leader Carol Broderson briefly discussed the history of botanizing in Virginia and the fate of the “great forest” that covered the Appalachians.
Women's Fly Fishing Weekend
Fri-Sun, Apr 21-23
3 days / 2 nights
Experienced and beginner fly fishers welcome!
This weekend will provide participants with an intense hands-on introduction to the sport of fly fishing.
Super Moon Over the New River
This was the closest the moon has been in 70 years and will be again for another 40!