Ever wanted to get up close and personal with crayfishes, mussels, aquatic snails, and salamanders?

Get your chance this spring with the Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail, which offers folks a distinctive and illuminating wildlife recreation opportunity via a series of publicly accessible river snorkel sites.

A collaboration between the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and partners Mainspring Conservation Trust and MountainTrue, the trail will span 10 pilot sites throughout WNC, encompassing the Catawba, French Broad, Hiwassee, Little Tennessee, and Yadkin river basins. The sites are expected to open in late spring.

Each site on the trail will be marked by signage featuring water safety information and aquatic species folks may encounter on each site.

The 10 pilot sites are:

Want more info? Get additional details on the Trail's website before its launch later this spring.