Four miles off the Blue Ridge Parkway, nestled among waterfalls and verdant forest glens, up
the winding ribbon of 276, visitors to Brevard and Pisgah Forest will find the Cradle of Forestry.
This scenic heritage site offers exhibits, walking trails, a gift shop, and special programs for
adventurers of all ages. But the Cradle of Forestry is more than just a roadside attraction. It’s
the beginning of forestry in America.

The story began in 1888 when young George Washington Vanderbilt first visited western North
Carolina. He was entranced with the landscape — the lush forests and rolling blue ridges —
and began to dream of building an estate unlike any other in a most unlikely place. That dream
would be made manifest over the next seven years, as George Vanderbilt purchased 125,000
acres of land and hired a fleet of workers to bring his Biltmore Estate to life.

Vanderbilt hired world-famous architects and artists to construct his home. The grounds were
overseen by a pioneering American landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmstead, and a young
forester from Pennsylvania named Gifford Pinchot.

At that point in history, Pinchot was one of only two foresters in the United States. Forestry was
a new field on this side of the Atlantic, where several centuries of aggressive settlement across
the continent had left the nation’s remaining wilderness areas in desperate need of
preservation. Pinchot learned critical lessons about forest management from leading foresters in
Europe and brought them to Western North Carolina when he went to work for Vanderbilt in
1892. When he left in 1895 to become head of the US Division of Forestry, he recommended Carl Schenck, a young German forester, as his
replacement.

In maintaining Biltmore’s vast forests, Schenck saw the need for a training program that would
educate his local employees and coworkers in the science of forestry. George Vanderbilt
allowed him to found a school in a clutch of abandoned farm buildings on the estate property. The 1898 opening of Schenck’s Biltmore Forest School preceded the opening of the New York State College of Forestry at Cornell University by a few weeks, making it the birthplace or "cradle" of forestry in America.

Schenck trained his students with a combination of classroom and hands-on methods. When he parted company with Vanderbilt nearly a decade later, his influence loomed largely, not just over the Biltmore Forest School but the science of forestry within the United States. 

In subsequent years, 87,000 acres of George Vanderbilt’s Biltmore Estate became the heart of the Pisgah National Forest. In 1968, Congress moved to create a heritage site around the 6,500 acres that once surrounded the Biltmore Forest School.

Today, the Cradle of Forestry in America sits at the heart of a thriving, working forest that is
a living testament to Schenck’s vision and continually serves to inspire new generations of forest lovers.

“The Cradle of Forestry is a national treasure and a must-see for anyone with an appreciation
of the great outdoors. The development of science-based forestry at the turn of the 20th century
launched modern-day environmental protection efforts. The Cradle provides unique learning
opportunities while allowing visitors to enjoy the best that nature has to offer,” says Natalie
Britt, Cradle of Forestry President and CEO.

To plan your trip and learn about current and upcoming programs, visit the Cradle of Forestry here.