When: August 2, 2023 @ 1:00 pm
Beat the heat and celebrate the launch of our Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail site!
There’s a lot more to our rivers than trout and whitewater! Western North Carolina has some of the most diverse freshwater habitats in the world, with fish that come in every color of the rainbow. With the launch of the Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail, you can easily experience the aquatic marvel at 10 stops across WNC, including Mainspring’s very own Queen Branch Preserve.
We invite you to kick off our new Queen Branch Snorkel Site on Wednesday, August 2nd from 1:00pm-2:30pm at the intersection of Bryson City Rd and Queen Branch Rd in Franklin. We will unveil our new educational signage, then get in the river and explore our underwater backyard. Snorkelers will be treated to a beautiful array of creatures like Tangerine Darters and Spotfin Chubs, which are common at this site, as well as other fish, salamanders, freshwater mussels, crayfish, macroinvertebrates, and more. Don’t have a snorkel? We’ll bring one for you! Just indicate on the form below if you will need one.
Spotfin chub Tangerine darter
This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Please fill out the form below, then grab your bathing suit and get ready to see the world from a fish’s-eye view. Email Skye with any questions.
This event is weather dependent. If it rains heavily in the days leading up to the event, the water will be cloudy and we will reschedule.
The Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail is an innovative education project that will link together a set of publicly accessible river sites where people can safely snorkel to experience the underwater world of streams and rivers of western North Carolina and beyond. Each site has an educational sign, which provides safety information, a description of notable species at the site, and other information about the trail. Learn more here.
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