StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders As you drive into Roan Mountain State Park on Hwy. 143 go a little slower than normal and watch for the small pull-off points along the way. There are many of them and if you stop at one you will find some of the hidden beauty of the park, like these Mountain Laurel trees that is in full bloom now.

StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders After a hot sunny summer afternoon a young couple enjoys a beautiful sunset from a picnic table in the Watauga Point Recreation Area on Watauga Lake.

StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders Jennie Jarrett and her furbaby Mazie, a rescued Springer Spaniel mixed Terrier, enjoy a walk after the heat breaks near sunset just outside the family’s apple orchard in Burbank.

StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders After you’ve driven past Roan Mountain State Park on Hwy. 143 as you continue up the mountain toward Carver Gap you are offered many different small pull-off points along the way that offer stunning vistas of the area like this one. You can see in the photo one of the reasons early settlers call the mountains in our area the “Smokey Mountains” as clouds pour over a ridgeline looking to northwest back toward Elizabethton.

StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders There are many hiking trails accessible from the Roan High Knob Trail parking lot. Casey and Mitch from Cleveland, Ohio are returning to the lot after hiking one of them.

StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders It seems no matter where you go you gotta wear a mask any more....even if you’re a trail sign at the Roan High Bluff Trial on top of Roan Mountain.

StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders Photographer Alisha Upton from Tellico Plains, TN photographs a small birds nest inside a Rhododendron bush at the Roan High Knob Trail parking area.

StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders After you’ve driven past Roan Mountain State Park on Hwy. 143 as you continue up the mountain toward Carver Gap you are offered many different small pull-off points along the way that offer stunning vistas of the area like this one. Here you can see a large shaft of rain fall over the Cloudland area of Roan Mountain.

StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders The Doe River meanders its way throughout Roan Mountain State Park and is easily accessible at many points in and around the park.

StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders After you’ve driven past Roan Mountain State Park on Hwy. 143 as you continue up the mountain toward Carver Gap you are offered many different small pull-off points along the way that offer stunning vistas of the area like this one. Looking north back toward the park and the town of Roan Mountain.

StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders The Doe River meanders its way throughout Roan Mountain State Park and is easily accessible at many points in and around the park.

StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders As you drive into Roan Mountain State Park go a little slower than normal and watch for the small pull-off points along the way. There you will find some of the hidden beauty of the park, like this Mountain Laurel tree. They are in full bloom now.