Without our local community and guests, Navitat wouldn’t exist. One of our main goals is to help people appreciate the natural beauty in our area. Sometimes, those of us who live here can become accustomed to seeing the things we see every day; it’s easy to lose sight of the beauty around us when it becomes somewhat ordinary. Navitat allows folks (yes, even us locals) to look around and see things through new eyes.
When we get a lot of local groups, families or local organizations, we strive to instill in them a revived thrill and appreciation for the place we get to live in. It’s an amazing environment, with so much see and enjoy. Part of our hope is always to urge locals to appreciate the land and nature that we’re lucky enough to inhabit.
We’ve also booked some college groups who will be coming out for their orientation, and we’re excited to share the beauty of their new home with them. Navitat’s canopy tours are a great way for them to experience team building and also to see their new area from a unique point of view.
So far, we’ve been really lucky to have had great weather at Navitat during our first year. To us, that doesn’t mean a completely dry season; since our tours go on rain or shine, we don’t judge the weather based on a little water. Instead, it takes lightening or high winds to qualify as bad weather and have us shut down a tour.
Sometimes, people are surprised that we’ll still take tours out during the rain. At this time of year, we’re not getting cold, driving rains that last all afternoon. Instead, we might get a few showers of pleasantly cool rain that feel refreshing compared to the heat of the day. We always tell people to dress for the current weather, but bring a few changes of clothes and other options in the car with them. You never know when the weather might change, or be totally different in two locations as close as Asheville and Moody Cove.
When it’s raining, most of us sit inside. If our goal at Navitat is to help people experience nature in new and different ways, then getting out in the rain is a great way to experience something new and view nature through a new lens. Watching the smiles on the faces of guests who have joined us on rainy days proves that zipping Navitat is certainly worth experiencing in (almost) all types of weather.
Since Navitat opened this spring, we’ve been surprised by a few things.
The first is the relative quiet. Even with as many as 200 guests per day, Moody Cove is still the peaceful place we wanted it to be. We’re relieved! As much as we appreciate nature, we didn’t want herds of people trampling the area and disrupting the natural solitude of the space. Instead, we were thrilled to realize that the guests we bring into the area are nature lovers too, and appreciate the area and unique sights we’re able to show them. We do attract a lot of people, but we’ve managed to maintain the mountain serenity, too.
The second surprise is how amazing our staff is! We expected them to be qualified and competent, of course. But, we’ve been blown away by how educated, fun – and passionate they are! We have people with master’s degrees who have chosen to make their living with us in order to spend their time out in nature everyday, and that’s just one example. Each and every member of our staff feels the same passion we do about the outdoors, about sharing our enthusiasm for nature. It’s been totally overwhelming and thrilling to see that the staff echoes what Navitat is trying to do.[click to continue…]
Last week’s outing with Sarah Marcinko, Navitat’s Plant Ecologist from Equinox Environmental, was inspiring. We all learned some new things about our home, Moody Cove, that we hadn’t realized. Aside from the wetland area that appears to be fairly unique in western North Carolina, Moody Cove is also home to several rare plant species like Black Cohosh, Eastern Spotted Coralroot, American Ginseng, and Bloodroot. American Ginseng has many holistic uses, including as a stimulant (explaining why it’s often found in energy drinks) and aphrodisiac. Black Cohosh also has some holistic uses.
Even more exciting, we discovered that we’ve got fruit trees! Cherry and apple trees seem to have been planted in areas near the wetland. This find reminds us that families once made their home here. It also gives us something tasty to look forward to in a few months!
Invasive species like Multiflora Rose and Japanese Spirea are a common problem in Southern Appalachian forests; unfortunately, Sarah pointed out that Moody Cove is no different, and we’re working to determine the best methods to eliminate invasives on our property. Many of these species were spread across the land by the cattle that used to graze here.
Touring the Navitat property with Sarah and learning more about the plants in Moody Cove was so interesting, and we saw some amazing views, especially from a spot high on the ridge. When John Walker set out to design the course, he found two large Chestnut Oaks high on the ridge line. As our group soaked in the awe-inspiring views, Ken explained that it all started here. John fell in love with these two trees, from which you can see all the way to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and worked his vision around getting guests to and from these beauties in the most exciting way.
When we say that Moody Cove is special, it’s not just a gimmick… we mean it. Ken Stamps, Navitat’s managing partner, looked at over 300 properties before settling on Moody Cove as Navitat’s home. So, how did he know that this spot was “the one,” that Moody Cove was meant to be Navitat’s home? There were several reasons, actually.
Number one, the natural beauty of Moody Cove’s secluded, 240-acres is breathtaking. Made up of steep, towering ridges offering breath-taking views (that make for one awesome canopy tour!) Moody Cove really is a unique spot. And, the more we’ve learned about the plants and animals that also call it home, the more we appreciate that natural beauty. Last Sunday, the entire Navitat management crew spent the day with Sarah Marcinko, our Plant Ecologist from Equinox Environmental. Each time Sarah is with us, she helps us discover more fascinating reasons to preserve and share this special place. On Sunday, we learned about an extensive wetland area in Moody Cove that Sarah tells us is unique, and likely a significant find, in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Most wetland areas in WNC were drained to create fertile farmland, but ours remains, and with it, a host of plants and wetland creatures. One of the sky-bridges on the course offers great views of this area.
As for the second reason Ken knew Moody Cove was Navitat’s home, well, he loved that Moody Cove had such a rich history. Being a good neighbor is important to all of us at Navitat, and we were thrilled to be able to start with a site that already had lots of ties to the local community. The McDarris family, who still owns the property, requested that Navitat specifically preserve several special elements on-site. We’re happy to do so, and we love that our home still has stories from years past and fond memories for those in the area. The chestnut grove planted by Charles McDarris’s dad still grows alongside our new parking area, and “Picnic Rock” awaits youngsters with lunch-spreads. And we’re still hoping to find Judge McDarris’ lost wedding ring along the “old road” one day!
We’re not the only ones who think Moody Cove is a special place, and we’re confident you’ll feel it the moment you visit. Completely secluded. Tucked away from the distractions of the outside world. Peaceful. Full of life. Our Barnardsville neighbors know what we’re talking about; they knowingly smile as we talk about what an awesome home we’ve found.
Moody Cove’s rich history isn’t the only reason we decided it was just right for Navitat. The rest of the decision, as you can imagine for a canopy adventures company, was based on Moody Cove’s dense forests and other environmental features.
98% of Moody Cove is densely forested and contains some of the largest trees in the area, including White Oak, Red Oak, Chestnut Oak, Tulip Poplar, Chestnut, Eastern Hemlock, Yellow Birch, Pignut Hickory, Red Maple, Flowering Dogwood, Sourwood, Black Locust, White Pine, Sugar Maple, Black Walnut and Sycamore trees. From Moody Cove’s highest elevation (at 3,600 feet), you can see Razor Mountain, Tharp Mountain, and Coxcomb Mountain. The elevation of the terrain changes by 1,200 feet over the property, and its lowest point, called Moody Gap, is on an old trail that Native Americans used to travel between Buncombe and Madison counties.
Soaring throughout Moody Cove on a zipline adventure gives you a birds-eye view of all this, plus some of the creatures we share the Cove with. We’ve seen evidence of several bears in the area, and have happened across many turtles and snakes. One of our owner’s sons spied a Black Rat Snake one day and got a little bit too close, earning a bite on the tip of his nose! (No lasting damage was suffered.) If you’re a bird-watcher, you’ll be excited to try and spot all of the different birds we’ve observed here. So far, the list includes Sharp-shinned Hawks, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Ruffed Grouse, Northern Flickers, Pileated Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Wild Turkeys, Eastern Towhees, White-eyed Vireos, and Hooded Warblers.
One common animal we actually haven’t seen much of is the squirrel. Despite that, we’ve made it our official mascot. Check our blog often, because we’ll be announcing details of a contest to name our squirrel mascot soon!
With a background that could qualify for a feature on the History Channel and the incredible natural beauty that the Asheville area is known for, Moody Cove is the perfect home for Navitat. We studied over 300 individual sites in Buncombe County and Henderson County before settling on Moody Cove, whose history includes Native American trails, a family split by the Civil War, panning for gold and even illegal moonshine arrests.
Navitat’s land is leased from Charles McDarris, whose family has owned the property for over 150 years. During the Civil War, the family living at Moody Cove was divided, with two sons fighting for the Union, and two sons fighting for the Confederacy. Their father, distraught over the absence of his sons, joined the Confederacy as a chaplain to try to be closer to them. Amazingly, all 5 survived the war and returned home. After the war, the property was divided and sold outside of the family. In the 1950’s, one of those buyers began producing illegal moonshine at Moody Cove, which resulted in local law enforcement attention and several arrests. Once the moonshine sills were shut down, Moody Cove returned to the calm, beautiful spot it had always been. At that time, McDarris’ father, a prominent district court judge in western Carolina, began to reassemble the property. Judge McDarris finally purchased the original tract of land in the 1970’s, putting all of Moody Cove back in his family’s hands and ensuring that it would never again be a home for illegal liquor production.
After falling in love with the property and our visions of zip line adventures that could be built, we came to an agreement with Charles McDarris to lease the land. Since then, the final occupant (a very ill-tempered horse) has moved to greener pastures and one of our founders has moved in. To oversee work on the zip lines, John Walker and his dog Fern have temporarily taken up residence in an Airstream trailer on-site. When we’re done, we’ll have 10 zip lines, 6 sky bridges, and at least one rappel course. We can’t wait to introduce our new visitors to the natural beauty of Moody Cove.
Without our local community and guests, Navitat wouldn’t exist. One of our main goals is to help people appreciate the natural beauty in our area. Sometimes, those of us who live here can become accustomed to seeing the things we see every day; it’s easy to lose sight of the beauty around us when it becomes somewhat ordinary. Navitat allows folks (yes, even us locals) to look around and see things through new eyes.
