girl with brown hair walking through the woods with a backpack on
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Leave No Trace: Advice From A Former Forest Service Worker

A couple weeks ago I posted a blog about the 7 principles of Leave No Trace when hiking, backpacking, and camping: Click here to see blog post. This week, I am following up on that topic. I interviewed Zane Wolf, who used to work for the Forest…
Shallow focus photography of backpack on top of boulder
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Pack It In, Pack It Out: 7 Steps to Leaving No Trace

 Anyone who loves the outdoors knows how important it is to protect and preserve it. Leaving no trace is one of the most important rules for any hiker, backpacker, camper, or nature enthusiast. In order to help spread awareness…

Family Camping Essentials

Spring is here - forests are budding, days are getting longer, and getting outside is a must. Share your love of the outdoors with your whole crew by planning a family camping trip. Our family camping essentials have you covered with everything…
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3 Amazing Weekend Backpacking Loops in the Smokies

Across the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, miles of interconnected trails meander through lush, green valleys, hug the banks of moss-laden, rocky creeks, and climb through thickets of mountain laurel and rhododendron to the blue-tinged…

How to Select the Perfect Sleeping Bag

It’s the coldest time of year, but that’s no reason to not get outside and camp. With the right knowledge and gear, anyone can spend a cozy night out in the wilderness! So, we here at Diamond Brand would like to give you all the necessary…

Backpacking Mount Mitchell

There’s a bit of Tarheel pride in the fact that Mount Mitchell is the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi River. So important is the peak that, in 1915, it was named the first state park in North Carolina.Mt.…
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Cataloochee Campground

Intro Imagine living on the untouched, beautiful lands of a national park. For centuries this was a reality for a wily community of Appalachia’s finest who called Cataloochee Valley home. At the time of the park's inception, a community of…
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Big Creek Campground

Intro When we take the time to relax beside the roaring waters of an Appalachian stream, something incredible happens to our psyche. The roaring thunder of the water drowns out all the worries and doubts you carried from "real life." The continual…
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Playing in the Pisgah: How to Spend a Weekend in Western Carolina

It's no secret that the mountains of Western North Carolina have a wide array of wonderful places to live and play. With vibrant mountain towns like Boone, Brevard, and Asheville, as well as well-preserved national forests and serpentine scenic…
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Mt. Pisgah Campground

Intro Mt. Pisgah Campground is located high atop the Pisgah Ledge at Flat Laurel Gap off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Centered amongst the wonders of the Pisgah National Forest, at an elevation of 5,000’, the Mt. Pisgah campground is ideally…