View of Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, North Carolina

© Adam Jones/Danita Delimon

Fog above the forest

Today we're looking out over Pisgah National Forest, which was established on this day in 1916. One of the first national forests established in the eastern United States, it comprises more than 500,000 acres of mountainous peaks, cascading waterfalls, and heavily forested slopes. With hundreds of miles of trails, Pisgah is a popular place for hiking, backpacking, road biking, mountain biking, fishing, and rock climbing.

The land here was first set aside as a public forest with approximately 86,700 acres that were previously part of the Biltmore Estate owned by George Vanderbilt II. When he passed away in 1914, his wife, Edith Vanderbilt, sold the land to the federal government for $5 an acre, fulfilling her husband's wishes to create the core of Pisgah National Forest.