User:Turnwaldm/Richland Balsam

Richland Balsam is a mountain in the Great Balsam Mountains in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Rising to an elevation of 6,410 feet (1,950 m), it is the highest mountain in the Great Balsam range, is among the 20 highest summits in the Appalachian range, and is the ninth highest peak in the East of the United States. The Blue Ridge Parkway reaches an elevation of 6,053 feet (1,845 m)— the parkway's highest point— as it passes over Richland Balsam's southwestern slope. The Jackson County-Haywood County line crosses the mountain's summit.

Richland Balsam's upper elevations (above approximately 5,500 feet) support part of one of just ten stands of Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest. Spruce-fir forests are found in the highest elevations of Southern Appalachia due their ability to survive in climates that are too cold and harsh for the hardwood forests which dominate lower elevations. Southern spruce-fir ecosystems resemble ecosystems more commonly found in the northern United States and Canada than in the Southeastern United States.

The eastern half of Richland Balsam is protected by the Pisgah National Forest, and most of the western half is protected by the Nantahala National Forest (the exception being the Blue Ridge Parkway corridor, which is maintained by the National Park Service). There is a parking lot and overlook atop Richland Balsam marking the parkway's highest point. A short interpretive trail connects the parking lot with the summit.

The Mountain is only accessible when the Blue Ridge Parkway is open, so the mountain is often inaccessible in winter. The trail and overlook is maintained by the Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway, a nonprofit mostly composed of residents along the parkway

Hiking
There is a short, low difficulty, 1.5 mile long trail that can be hiked to reach the summit of Richland Balsam. To reach the hiking trail, you must first park at the Haywood-Jackson overlook. The trail begins at the north end of the parking lot and about 0.15 miles along the trail there is a fork which allows you to take the loop to the top in either direction with the option to the right offering a quicker, but more challenging route to the top. Both routes take about 45 minutes to complete and involve roughly 700 feet of elevation gain. The highest point of the mountain is slightly east of the trail about 0.8 miles along the trail, but the sign marking the Summit is slightly down the trail and technically an incorrect marker of the peak.

The trail is maintained by the Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway the Balsam Chapter which helps maintain the parkway from milemarker 416 to milemarker 469. While the Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway has been an organization since 1988, the Balsam Chapter was not founded until November of 2020

Seasonality
Due to the winding nature of the roadway and the increased severity of winter weather due to the elevation, the section of the Blue Ridge Parkway that passes over Richland Balsam is frequently closed for long periods during the winter season.

Wildlife, Dendrology, and Plants
This forest type consists of two dominant tree types— the red spruce and the Fraser fir— commonly called the "he-balsam" and "she-balsam" respectively, although the latter has been decimated in recent decades by the balsam woolly adelgid infestation.

Camping
There is no designated camping areas directly attached to the Haywood-Jackson Overlook. However, camping is permitted in the Pisgah National forest to the East of the mountain and to the west of the mountain in Nantahala National Forest.

Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway
The trail and Overlook is maintained by the Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway Richland Balsam Chapter. This is the newest chapter of the Friends. The Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway have chapters along the length of the parkway and each of the ten chapters works to maintain the recreational value of overlook and park areas along a section of the highway. The organization is volunteer based and the Richland Balsam Chapter is mostly comprised of people from the surrounding Waynesville area.