Justin Forrest, Author at Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine - Page 3 of 5

After nearly two weeks of rainfall, Maryland, Western North Carolina, and Northern Georgia are starting to see devastating flooding, with Ellicott City, Md. being hit the hardest. Be sure to follow the National Weather Service and your local news channels for the latest alerts and be safe out there! DEVELOPING: Flash flooding, water rescues…

Due to the excessive amount of rain in WNC, Bent Creek Experimental Forest and Dupont State Forest are closing singletrack trails until Friday, June 1, to prevent further damage. Both forests are keeping gravel roads/forest roads open, but encourage users to be careful due to slippery conditions. Cars are encouraged to take it easy on…

Like it or not, if you live an outdoor lifestyle, you have a certain appreciation for a well designed offroad vehicle. When I first saw this 1992 Ford F150, designed and built by OGRE in Pisgah Forest, I fell in love. Now, I’m a Toyota guy through and through, but I’m also a fishing guy,…

Samantha Brooke Takeover

I first came across Samantha’s profile when I started working for BRO a couple months ago. Immediately I knew I had to reach out about an Instagram Takeover. We all love hiking. We all love dogs. When you combine the two, especially as beautifully as Samantha has, you’ve got a recipe for some of the…

Across Western North Carolina, outdoor companies and manufacturers are coming together to revolutionize the industry and the area they call home. Aptly named the Outdoor Gear Builders of WNC (OGB), this small organization comprised of 29 companies is steadily working to improve not just their member’s businesses, but the outdoor recreation industry as a whole. From…

Haute Route Asheville

Last weekend, the prestigious European cycling event series Haute Route was held for the first time in Asheville, N.C. It was a rainy weekend, but that didn’t stop the riders from taking on the brutal climbs, winding roads, and screaming descents of the area’s mountains. 200 riders from eight countries and 32 states came to ride…

Want to see them win again? Vote for 2019 HERE. Nestled in the mountains of Banner Elk, N.C., Lees-McRae College is a hub for outdoor adventure and recreation for its students and staff. Lees-McRae College is officially the first “small school,” with an undergrad of fewer than 5,000 people, to claim the title of Top…

If Asheville was known for one thing and one thing only, it wouldn’t be the mountains, it would be the beer. Recently I had the pleasure of sitting down with Kendra Penland, Executive Director of the Asheville Brewers Alliance (ABA). We had lunch and chatted about the ABA, Beer City Festival, AVL Beer Week, and…

David Wiens, Executive Director of IMBA, made the announcement on May 17 at the 33rd Annual Meeting of Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge, held in Roanoke, Va. The news comes after years of hard work, dedication, and determination by the team at Virginia’s Blue Ridge and the local mountain bike community. They are one of only…

Biolite Campstove 2

If you’re anything like me, the thought of packed beaches, urine-filled swimming pools, and rowdy downtown crowds sounds like a pretty terrible way to spend Memorial Day Weekend. You’ll find me miles away from civilization, in the mountains, grilling with some friends near a waterfall. On second thought, you won’t find me, but that’s the point…

“Leaves of three, leave them be.” – A quote from every mom ever. I’m sure you’ve heard that saying before. My great-grandmother, grandma, and mom have all embedded that into our family’s heads. We grew up in the country, so when we wanted to play, we went outside. When you’re a little kid running around…

If you want to win a fly fishing tournament, don’t go with me. Not only was this my first fly fishing tournament, this was my first time ever fly fishing. Highlands North Carolina is a special place to me. I’ve been coming here since I was a kid. My grandparents have a place here and…

Lyme Disease Threats

In a recent report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the difficulty to control the diseases caused by ticks, mosquitos, and fleas poses a consistently increasing health risk here in the U.S. From 2004 to 2016, there have been more than 640,000 reported cases of vector-borne illness due to bites from the…

For the next nine weeks, we’re giving away tickets to nine of the best festivals across the region. As you may already know, festival season is upon us! We actually created a pretty nifty festival guide about it in our May issue. This year is lining up to be the best yet. New festivals are…

Ecusta Brewing Interview

Last year I had the pleasure of meeting Bill Zimmer, co-owner of Ecusta Brewing Company, through a mutual friend who was playing a show at the brewery. There were great tunes, bbq, guys dancing in unicorn costumes, and of course, delicious brews. After a couple beers, we started talking about a new idea they were…