Join us in the Mountains for 4th of July Weekend.

Fourth of July is this weekend and there are lots of great things to do in the mountains. Check out the 4th of July Events in each of the towns. Find one you like and come enjoy the mountains.

We are really excited to announce that the Highlander has a new calendar of events, with lots of great new features. Take a look and let us know what you think.

The calendar has the ability to search by town, state, date and/or type of event. Click each title to get a detail page on each event.

It also includes a google map to each event, and the ability to add a reminder about a specific event to your personal Google, Yahoo, iCalendar or vCalendar.

If you would like to invite a friend to an event, click the "email to a friend or click the icons under "Share this Event" to add your favorite event to your Twitter or Facebook page to invite all your friends. The new calendar even shows the weather for the event location. If you want to see all events for a specific time, just use the small calendar to flip through the dates.

Know of events that are not on our calendar, email us and we will email you instructions on submitting events. We are always working to make the Highlander a great experience and would like your feedback on the calendar, email us and let us know what you think.

This year is the 75th Anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Smoky Mountains National Park was the first established National Park in the Eastern United States, and the most visited National Park in the US.

Read the Highlander's feature story on how these great mountains were chosen to be the first national parking the east and a great conservation effort that brought work and wealth to these mountains. And listen to a copy of Franklin D. Roosevelt's Dedication speech, that historical day on top of Newfound Gap, courtesy of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

We are excited to announce that we are working on a New Calendar of Events program with all the bells and whistles, including a button to add an event to your personal calendar. Seach by date, town or type of event. If you have events that should be on the calendar, email me and I will send instructions to submit your events to be posted.

We have many new featured stories, mountain communities, scenic road trips as well as additional recreational information planned for this coming year, so bookmark and come back often and sign up for "Messages from the Mountains" to be notified when they go on-line.

Don't hesitate to email us at suggestions@blueridgehighlander.com and let us know what you would like to see on the Highlander.

Foothills Parkways...If you can’t get enough the Great Smoky Mountain’s scenic drives or you just want to view them from another perspective at a much lower altitude, then your going to love the Foothills Parkway. The views from these lower mountain ridges are spectacular. The Foothills Parkway takes visitors above the treetops and foothills from the valley below, offering incredible mountain vistas across the entire face of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Tennessee's Newfound Gap Road or US Highway 441 dissects the Great Smoky Mountains National Park the two-lane roadway crosses thru the heart of the park and over its highest mountain gap.  Newfound Gap Road follows rivers, climbs steep slopes and offers incredible views from the rooftop of the eastern United States.

North Carolina's Newfound Gap Road or US Highway 441 dissects the Great Smoky Mountains National Park the two-lane roadway crosses thru the heart of the park and over its highest mountain gap.  Newfound Gap Road follows rivers, climbs steep slopes and offers incredible views from the rooftop of the eastern United States.