Help Celebrate an Appalachian Icon: Grandfather Mountain

Do you remember Mildred the Bear? Have you attended the Highland Games? Or walked across the Mile High Swinging Bridge? With its prominent profile recognizable for miles around and featuring beloved Appalachian vistas, North Carolina’s Grandfather Mountain is many things to many people: an easily recognized landmark along the Blue Ridge Parkway, a popular tourist destination, a site of annual Highland Games, and an internationally recognized nature preserve.

With your help, we can publish Randy Johnson’s unique and personal telling of Grandfather Mountain: The History and Guide to an Appalachian Icon, which includes more than 200 historical and contemporary photographs, maps, and a practical guide to hiking the extensive trails, appreciating key plant and animal species, and photographing the natural wonder that is Grandfather.

In this definitive book on Grandfather Mountain, Johnson guides readers on a journey through the mountain’s history, from its geological beginnings millennia ago and the early days of exploration, to its role in regional development, and eventual establishment as a North Carolina state park. Johnson draws not only on historical sources but on his rich personal experience working closely on the mountain alongside former owner Hugh Morton and others.

Join us in memorializing this cultural icon of lasting significance. It’s your Grandfather, too.

Your gift will underwrite the considerable production costs for 5,000 copies of this lushly illustrated volume, with 206 images spread throughout 304 pages.

Now through March 31, 2016, a generous friend of UNC Press will contribute $1 for every $1 you donate through our power2give.org initiative, up to $6,000! And, all gifts are charitable contributions, so donate today.

Awesome benefits are available to donors:

• Donate $25: Your donation will cover the costs of including 1 of 206 images in the book. You will receive a thank-you note from UNC Press.
• Donate $100: Your donation will cover the costs of including 4 of 206 images in the book. You will receive a handwritten thank-you note from UNC Press plus an invitation to meet author Randy Johnson during the book tour.
• Donate $250: Your donation will cover the costs of including 10 of 206 images in the book. You will receive a thank you note from UNC Press and an invitation to an exclusive guided tour on Grandfather Mountain with author Randy Johnson.
• Donate $500: Your donation will cover the costs of including 20 of 206 images in the book. You will receive a thank you note from UNC Press, an invitation to an exclusive guided tour on Grandfather Mountain with author Randy Johnson, and an exclusive copy of “the bonus chapter” of text and images not included in the book.