Protected landscapes · room to roam

Parks &
Forests.

Choose a starting destination, then find the parks, forests, wilderness areas, monuments, and preserves that belong within reach.

Open the landscape finder

Protected place

Map points orient the landscape—not every entrance.

Landscape finder

Find wild places nearby.

Starting from Asheville

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Protected Places

Sorted from Asheville, North Carolina. Distances use the mapped center of each protected landscape.

A field guide to designations

Know what kind
of wild it is.

Designations can signal who manages a landscape, why it is protected, and what kind of access, development, or recreation to expect.

01Iconic landscapes

Protected-place directory

Understand
the landscape.

A protected place is more than a pin. Open a guide for the terrain, the character of the area, and a better starting point for deciding where your day belongs.

Protected-Place DirectoryNearest to Asheville, North Carolina

Before the trailhead

The boundary is
not the entrance.

Protected places can contain many access points, jurisdictions, seasonal rules, and very different kinds of terrain. Use the guide to orient the trip, then confirm the specific route with the responsible land manager.

01
Know the designationPark, forest, wilderness, monument, and preserve rules can differ.
02
Choose an access pointMatch the trailhead, road, river access, or visitor center to your plan.
03
Check today’s conditionsClosures, permits, weather, fire restrictions, and fees can change.

Build outward