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By Buzz Trexler

Star Correspondent

The Southern Appalachian Highlands takes on a different look with the changing of seasons and visitors to Roan Mountain State Park will notice some exciting changes there as well in the coming year and beyond, in many ways thanks to grants and volunteers.

The 2,006-acre park is located near the Tennessee-North Carolina border in Carter County and was established to preserve Roan Mountain, a 6,285-foot peak known for its annual blooming of a 600-acre carpet of Catawba rhododendron.

This year, the 77th Rhododendron Festival will be held June 22-23, and the park visitors will notice the change, thanks to a $5,000 gift shop improvement grant that was used to install new flooring, add ceiling fans, and dark sky lighting to the outside of the building.

“We have made improvements to both of our gift shops,” Park Manager Monica Johnson said. “The Visitor Center Gift Shop is well stocked with new displays and provides a variety of souvenir options for our guests. Our Camp Store needed some work, and in 2021 we made a change. We converted our laundry facility into our camper registration office and store and moved the laundry into the old campground office. This allowed us to increase inventory for our campers and provide a larger space to do daily business.”

In 2023, the park received a $10,000 Iris Fund Grant to establish a Catawba Rhododendron Garden on the cabin hillside to eliminate mowing and weed eating in the future. “We are looking forward to seeing that in bloom this summer,” she said.

A Paid-Staff, Volunteer Effort

Volunteers are an important part of maintaining a park that sees visitors from around the world. During the past two years, Johnson said, a volunteer group has repainted shelters and carried out repairs to the amphitheater. The group also made repairs to several structures at the Miller Farmstead and elsewhere in the park. “They have done tons of landscaping at the Farmstead, deconstructed the old platform on the Peg Leg trail, and rebuilt the walkway to Cabin 1,” she said.

“We have made improvements to the Miller Farmstead by developing an official House and Grounds Tour led by seasoned staff,” she said. Registration is required for the tours and includes a small fee per person, revenue from which goes into the Farmstead Preservation Project.

Improvements to the cabins have been ongoing for the past 2-1/2 years, Johnson said. The interiors of Cabins 1-20 have undergone renovations, while the work at Cabins 1-20 is currently underway. Johnson said the exterior of cabins 10 through 20 will also be getting new siding, stain, porches, and windows this summer.

“We are hoping to get the bath houses in the campground renovated in 2024-2025,” she said.

Roan ‘Dream’ Job

Johnson was raised just outside of Fall Creek Falls State Park, one of the largest and most-visited parks in the Tennessee State Parks system, where she “fell in love with breathtaking views, waterfalls, and nature.”

“I have been working with Tennessee State Parks since 2000, six years seasonally until I became a full-time park ranger in 2007,” Johnson said. “I always had dreams of managing a park one day and that day finally came in April 2020.” She will celebrate her four-year anniversary as manager of Roan Mountain State Park in April.

“I jumped headfirst into my duties, building relationships with the staff and the local community,” she said. “In the first year and a half as manager, I worked with Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy to secure new land for the park, a 150 acre-track of beautiful, forested land full of rare plant species.”

Johnson manages the park’s natural and cultural resources and supervises 24 full-time employees, 10 seasonal employees, and eight volunteer hosts. “We have just recently been given a new park ranger position and co-management of Hampton Creek Cove State Natural Area,” she said.

Johnson is also responsible for 106 sites in the campground, 30 cabins, the park system’s largest gift shop, visitor center, museum, conference center, picnic shelters, and a 1900’s farmstead that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“My passion for state parks comes from my deep love for nature and wanting to educate and share nature with my family, friends, and our park guests,” she said. “I want to share the importance of being in nature with others and how it helps with one’s overall health just by being outdoors. I want to share what Roan Mountain State Park has to offer and why it’s so important to protect and preserve it for future generations.”

Hellbender Record

Protection of those resources involves the preservation of species indigenous to the region, which sometimes brings discoveries.

“We have been working on several resource management projects such as the Hellbender Project,” Johnson said. “In the past two years, we have had researchers surveying the Doe River within the park to get us an idea of what our population of hellbenders is like and how we can best preserve them going forward as they are on the threatened and endangered species list.”

The most recent discovery involved establishing the state record for the highest elevation a hellbender has ever been recorded, at 2,800 feet.

“The two surveys combined told us that our population is low but surviving,” the park manager said. “We are looking forward to making adjustments to the way we manage stormwater runoff, the way we mow, and the way we manage the river itself to help us protect and preserve what hellbenders we have left in the park.”

Museum Work Goes On

Johnson said renovation to the museum at the visitor center began in 2022, but additional funding is needed to complete the project. Upon completion, the museum will give visitors the ability to immerse themselves in what the state park has to offer on all levels. She hopes the first phase of the renovation will be open to the public this year.

Repairs, renovations, and upgrades have a cost, but Johnson believes it is a worthwhile investment.

“I think it is important for us to remember that there is inherent value in Tennessee’s natural environment, especially here at Roan,” she said. “Being in nature helps us re-create the human spirit and brings context and continuity to our lives.

“The overall mission for state parks is to preserve, protect, and share Tennessee’s natural and cultural resources while providing safe and quality outdoor experiences,” Johnson said. “Our No. 1 goal is to continually provide a space for our visitors to come and enjoy what we have to offer all the while protecting and preserving our unique and special features.”

To learn more about Tennessee State Parks, go to tnstateparks.com.