Quote from Pivotas:
Lived in Arden for 3 years, right next to Asheville, about a mile from the Biltmore Estate, on the edge of the Pisgah National Forest. Hiked every trail in the Pisgah over that time. Saw a black bear on 3 occasions, may have been the same one....it wore a radio collar. But otherwise there is a noticable absence of wild life, particularily birds. Beautiful country with a bad acid rain problem. Pisgah ajoins the Blue Ridge National Park, the most visited of all the national parks and rated with the worst air quality of all the parks. Pollution from coal burning powerplants to the west in Tn drops onto the mountains. Lot of tree loss at higher elevations such as on Mt Mitchell. Big problem now is people moving there and building their McMansions on the ridge lines, giving them nice sunrise/sunset views but otherwise destroying the pristene mountains that once made the place so unique.
Other than that....it's a great place....depending on what you're looking for.
Gee, that is discouraging if true. Maybe I better stay put here in KY around Mammoth Cave National Park. It is teeming with wildlife everywhere you look - deer, wild turkey, coyotes, fox and more and it's full of birds such as owls, woodpeckers, cardinals........................ I run there everyday and since no one around KY seems to be into fitness I pretty much have all the trails to myself.
