The North Carolina High Country is a stunning place to experience. Rugged mountains tower over 5,000 feet above the sea level, and cool, damp spruce-fir forests crown the highest peaks. The entire area has a very Canadian feel to it, and this is reflected in the remarkable number of warblers and other far northern breeding birds that have small populations in these mountains each summer. The songs of Thrushes, Canada Warblers, Black-throated Blues and Greens, Blackburnian Warblers, and many others echo through the forests and streams of these majestic mountains.

This tour will begin at Trout Lake, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Blowing Rock. Trout Lake has nesting Canada, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Chestnut-sided Warblers and more! From here we will travel south down the BRP to the Julian Price Picnic Area, where we will walk a small stretch of the Boone Fork Loop in search of Indigo Buntings and other meadow species. We will have lunch here, and then head to one of the most unappreciated birding spots in the High Country - the Price Lake Campground. The mix of lakeshore, forest, and field habitats make it a fantastic spot for birds like Blackburnian Warbler, and Swainson's Warblers are occasionally spotted here as well. Time permitting, we will walk a portion of the trail around the lake in search of breeding thrushes, warblers, flycatchers, and more.