Transylvania: Not Just Home to a Tourism Economy, but a Purveyor of Joy

Given the mental health benefits of outdoor recreation and the rising rates of anxiety and depression, maybe it's time to look at the public benefit of welcoming visitors.

Spruce-fir forest along the Appalachian Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

CEDAR MOUNTAIN — Young people. Talking!

Heard it myself on a hike not long ago from a party of four that, judging by the preponderance of orange clothing, consisted of students or grad students from Clemson University.

They were far enough behind me that I couldn’t make out what they were saying, nor did I care to. What interested me was the unfamiliar buzz of conversation, which, because these hikers matched my pace precisely, I heard for a good 15 minutes straight — lively chatter, bursts of spontaneous laughter, oohing and aahing over scenery.

It was the sound of fun. It was the sound of wholesome interaction. It was the sound of robust mental health.

You see, just days before this encounter in early June, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released a statement citing the “profound risk of harm” that social media poses to adolescent mental health.

The stereotype of zoned-out young people glued to screens is not quite fair, I know as the father of two 20-something sons. Plenty of teens and young adults are socially adept and engaged, and, on the other hand, I’ve spent plenty of time with distracted, phone-bound Boomers. Been one myself.

But while research has not shown a definite link between growing internet use and soaring rates of anxiety and depression among young people, Murthy’s 19-page advisory said, studies increasingly indicate these twin trends are more than coincidence. It also advised parents of teens to monitor and limit social media use.

The psychological benefits of outdoor recreation are, on the other hand, clear to anyone who either reads research or just gets out in the woods.

Ask yourself: Have you ever failed to feel better after going out for a hike, kayak trip or fly-fishing excursion? Have your spirits ever not been lifted by a few minutes soaking in the spray of a waterfall or staring up at a canopy of leaves against a blue sky? Don’t these experiences have a way of sparking interaction when shared with others?

So, this is another reason to welcome outsiders and another way to frame Transylvania’s identity:

We offer one potential antidote to the national tragedy of declining youth mental health. We are not just possessors of a tourism-based economy, we are purveyors of much-needed, restorative joy.

I’m not saying this provides an answer to the eternal question facing Transylvania — How many visitors and new residents are too many? It’s just a reason to look less at the crowds at favorite spots in Pisgah National Forest or DuPont Recreational State Forest, and more at the pleasure apparent on individual faces.

Or listen to the voices of hikers. Or the excited shouts prompted by plunges into, say, the primo swimming hole at Turtleback Falls near Gorges State Park.

Also, maybe the concern about being overwhelmed by outsiders is not quite as pressing as it was during the height of Covid-19-driven surge in visitation and home buying. 

For example, the new second-quarter housing market report from Allen Tate/Beverly-Hanks Realtors showed the median sale price of a home in Transylvania, $467,500, is still growing but at a slower rate than in recent years, and the amount of time that houses spent on the market has climbed by more than 25 percent compared to the second quarter of 2022.

The record-busting rates of pandemic-era bed-tax collection, meanwhile, flattened in 2022. This year, while the number of available short-term rental units continued to creep upward, occupancy rates during some months dropped significantly.

“The rate of (short-term rental) growth has slowed tremendously here and across the U.S.,” Clark Lovelace, executive director of the Transylvania County Tourism Development Authority, wrote in an email.

“Experts are indicating that the ‘big wave’ is over and supply has caught up with demand.”

Though visitation at DuPont began trending upward in June after the opening or reopening of parking areas, total visitation dropped from a record 1.35 million in fiscal year 2021 to 1.13 million in 2023, said Kirsten McDonald, the forest’s information and education supervisor.

One other thing to consider. The natural areas of Western North Carolina are vast enough that it’s still easy to avoid big crowds.

I’m writing this now because, frankly, July and August are slow news months. Public officials take time off, as did I, spending much of the last month waterfalling, tubing and touring breweries with visiting friends and family.

And backpacking, at least for a couple of days with my older son on the Appalachian Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

I expected it to be mobbed. It is, after all, the nation’s most famous trail in its most-visited national park — and for good reason, we saw on the first day of our hike, walking northeast from Newfound Gap on an undulating ridge that seldom dropped below 5,000 feet in elevation.

Though I’m parochial enough that it pains me to admit it, the scenes from open stretches of the trail were of mountains just a smidge more rugged and spectacular than our local peaks in Pisgah.

Then came long passages through spruce-fir habitat that, in the Southern Appalachians, remains only at the highest elevations. The shade was dense, the trail loamy and cushioned by conifer needles. Mosses and liverworts grew so densely on every surface that boulders looked like the flanks of green-furred beasts.

And yet, after passing several day hikers in the first few miles, we had this gorgeous wilderness all to ourselves. Seriously. Between lunch and dinner, we didn’t see a single other soul. 

We didn’t talk much while walking. I was too out-of-breath trying to keep up. But we bonded over shared tasks like filtering water from a tiny trickle of a source, over the pleasure of consuming calorie-dense backpacking treats. (When else do adults get to eat M&M’s?)

Sipping whiskey at a shelter that offered better views than any mountain mansion, we talked about his work, his future, our shared appreciation for the physical challenge and the beauty of the day.

Especially because my son now lives out of state and I rarely get to spend time with him, this was a highlight — probably the highlight — of my year.

And if I’d had to share it with a few other similarly happy folks, my joy wouldn’t have been diminished one bit.

Happy hikers at the fire lookout on Mt. Cammerer in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Email: brevardnewsbeat@gmail.com