Description:

I am thinking the name Joyce Kilmer is something most students of poetry have heard before. Things you may not know are that Joyce Kilmer is, despite the presumption to the contrary, a man. Another point of interest for travelers to Asheville (100 miles and a nice two hour day trip) will find you near Robbinsville NC, the gateway to Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. This lovely forest stands in loving memorial to the memory of Joyce Kilmer who, aside from being a poet also enlisted to defend the United States of America during WWI, and was deployed with “the fighting 69th” to France where at age 31, he died as a result of a bullet to his head.

This sacred patch of forest, though only 3,800 acres is home to trees more than 400 years old, some reaching over 100 ft. in height with an impressive girth of 20′ around. This trek is easy in some ways but pose challenges in others. Hemlock, Poplar, Red and White Oak, the lovely white bark of the sycamore and also basswood and beech are all found in this forest. Due to the profusion of very old and very large trees the pathway is thoroughly mapped with roots of varying sizes lying on top of the forest path. Caution is necessary lest you find your tennis shoe laces engaged with outlying roots or the risk of tripping on the larger ones causes a fall. Some areas of the path are narrow. The vegetation also closes in on the path reducing the space a bit further. All visitors are encouraged to remain completely “on the path” as further damage to this area would prove all the more impactful in consideration of the devastation already incurred by the non-native, thoroughly destructive havoc the Wooly Adelgid had wreaked on the hemlock trees that graced this tract. The damage done from this invasive pest was rampant resulting in the death of so many of the lovely trees in this forest. Some stand still, though obviously only in remembrance to the vibrance they knew in life. Some have been felled and were left to decay hopefully as a source of renewal to seedlings in the area. At the far end of the parking area, by the information center you can pick up the trail. There are both bathroom facilities and also tables providing a lovely place to picnic before or after your visit.

There are 2 ways to proceed. You can do the 1.25 mile loop. You will see the plaque dedicating this forest to Joyce Kilmer and a huge tree immediately before the plaque. To see many more of the giant, old forest rather than proceeding to your right at the monument finishing the 1.25 mile loop you will go left taking the upper .75 mile Poplar cove loop to see many more specimens of the majestic, aged trees that make Joyce Kilmer such a draw for visitors.

In this same area in late Spring and early summertime, the rhododendrons, azaleas and various blooming vines create even more beauty to delight forest visitors. They also stand in tribute of this old, sacred forest and the tree life that remains constantly in flux struggling valiantly to defy and triumph over any adversity that besets it.