All directions are from the University of North Carolina-Asheville campus, for "do it yourselfers" before and after the convention (we do not want private cars following the buses during the convention). The directions will be printed and mailed upon request, or they can be picked up at the convention registration desk.

Biltmore Estate: left onto Weaver Blvd, right on US 25 (Merrimon Avenue, becoming Biltmore Avenue) 5 miles through downtown Asheville (follow the US 25 signs carefully), across the Swannanoa River, right at the gate across from Biltmore Village.

North Carolina Arboretum: right onto Weaver Blvd, right onto Broadway, right onto US 19/23 south to US 240 west to I-26 east, 2 miles to US 191 south to the Blue Ridge Parkway entrance, right onto the Arboretum grounds.

Hendersonville Gardens: right onto Weaver Blvd, right onto Broadway, right onto US 19/23 south to U S 240 west to US 26 east, 20 miles to US 64 west.

To go to the Stelloh garden, continue on US 64/25, stay in the left lane and follow US 25 left at Church Street. After two blocks, turn right onto Fifth Avenue. Continue through town, across some railroad tracks to a stop sign and continue up the hill 0.5 miles to Ransier Drive. Carefully (blind curve) turn left on Ransier and go 0.9 miles to a set of six mailboxes, one with a red door. Park along the road, and enter the garden near the telephone pole or walk down the private road to other entrances.

To continue to the Collins garden (1 mile), continue on Ransier and take every right turn until you reach a dead end at Willow Road. The Collins driveway is just across Willow Road, a very short distance to the left. Carefully cross the road, go down the driveway, bear left, and park at the house.

To continue to the Manger garden (3 miles), exit the driveway and turn right on Willow Road, turn right at the stop sign onto Price Road, turn right onto Crab Creek Road at another stop sign, turn left onto xxx ...

To continue to the Whittemore garden (20 miles), return to Crab Creek Road and turn left, go 9 miles and turn left onto Dupont Road for 9 miles to the garden on the right, parking on the road or at the top of their driveway.

To continue to the Dupont State Forest (4 miles), continue on Dupont Road 4 miles to the parking lot on the right. To see some native azaleas, cross the road and follow the trail. The fork to the left is fairly steep, but has some nice plants.

To continue to the Haag garden (5 miles), continue on Dupont Road 2 miles to Cascade Lake Road, turn left to US 276, turn right on US 276 for 3 miles to a small white house on the left. Turn in just before the house, bear right and park on the grass before the bridge. Walk up the driveway and admire the wildflowers, rhododendrons and azaleas along the driveway and around the house.

To return quickly to UNCA from the Haag garden, turn left onto US 276 to Brevard, follow signs to US 280 east, continue on US 280 to I-26 west, to US 240 east, to US 19/23 north to the UNCA exit.

Blue Ridge Parkway: right onto Weaver Blvd, right onto Broadway, right onto US 19/23 south to US 240 west to I-26 east, 2 miles to US 191 south to the Blue Ridge Parkway entrance. Turn right for the Blue Ridge Parkway south to Great Smoky National Park, or left for the Blue Ridge Parkway north to Craggy Gardens, Mount Mitchell, Roan Mountain and etc.

Copper Bald / Wayah Bald: right onto Weaver Blvd, right onto Broadway, right onto US 19/23 south to US 240 to I-40 west. Go 18 miles and take exit 27 to Waynesville on US 19/23. Go 27 miles and exit onto US 23 south to Dillsboro. Go 24 miles, past Franklin, and turn right onto Old Murphy Road, and take an immediate left onto Wayah Road. Continue a little over 9 miles to the base of Wayah Bald, turn right and go about 4 miles to the top, admiring the R. calendulaceum and wildflowers along the way. A short blacktop trail goes to an observation tower, and the impressive stand of R. arborescens pictured in The Azalean. Walking a short way along the Appalachian Trail to the left (north) you will see more azaleas.

To go on to Copper Bald, continue a mile and a half on Wayah Road past the Wayah Bald turnoff, turn right onto FS 711 and go about 15 miles to the end, go right on Cold Creek Road a half mile, then right on Bens Creek Road for 2 miles to Burningtown Gap on the Appalachian Trail. This spot, about halfway between Wayah Bald and Copper Bald, is one of the trail heads the FBI used when they were looking for Eric Rudolph.

To see the Copper Bald azaleas, turn left (north) on the Appalachian Trail. It goes up rather steeply for a half mile or so and then levels out and becomes a more gentle slope. While there are wildflowers all along the trail, there are no azaleas for about half to three quarters of a mile. R. calendulaceum appears first, on both sides of the trail. There is a particularly nice group of R. cumberlandense on the left edge of the trail. A little more than a mile (or an hour) from the trail head is a shelter with a potable spring. Next (10 minutes) comes a sign telling you that you are 1.4 miles from the trail head. Soon thereafter, you will begin seeing R. arborescens and various natural hybrids, near the right (uphill) side of the trail, with others still further off the trail on the uphill side. Some are marked with plastic tape, and some with aluminum tags. Photographs, cuttings and seed have been collected from these tagged plants over the past few years. If you continue much further on, the trail begins to go downhill, and you are past the explored stands of azaleas.

There are also some very nice azaleas downhill off the Appalachian Trail. It seems to be easier to get lost when you go downhill than uphill off the trail, as we have had no mishaps on the uphill side, and have had two folks lost, one overnight, by going off the trail down the hill and not finding their way back. Looking at a map, you can see the trail makes a very sharp turn to the right about half way up the trail, and in each case, the lost person went off-trail before that turn.

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