Editor’s Note: Since August 2012, Garret K. Woodward has held the position of arts and entertainment editor for The Smoky Mountain News. In December 2018, he also became a contributing writer for Rolling Stone.

Below are a handful of excerpts from my Rolling Stone travels this year covering some of the best albums of 2024, excursions that took me from Maine to Montana, Florida to New York, Utah to Kentucky and then some — always in search of all things beautiful and true, especially when it comes to the sacred act of live performance. 

Editor’s Note: Since August 2012, Garret K. Woodward has held the position of arts and entertainment editor for The Smoky Mountain News. In December 2018, he also became a contributing writer for Rolling Stone.

The N.C. State Climate Office has launched a year-in-review tool that gives a review of trends and records at weather stations across the state. 

As it has been stated in this publication many times before, the litmus test of the strength of a community is by how strongly its arts is supported.

From new parks to big birthdays to policy overhauls, 2022 has been a year of change and major milestones for the outdoors in Western North Carolina. Here’s my best stab at outlining some of the biggest news to enter the region’s outdoor world this year.

The year 2022 was no 2020. But hey, that’s a good thing. In some ways the year seems less exciting than the pandemic years that preceded it, but when you take a step back and look at all that happened, it’s striking how consequential this trip around the sun may have been.

Lately I’ve been reading a book that came highly recommended and not a moment too soon, despite it being published in 2017 (I’m about 6 years behind on my reading, because reasons). 

For Western North Carolina’s outdoor enthusiasts, a toast to 2021 means a toast to the impressive slate of conservation successes that took place on the region’s public lands this year. 

There’s been a lot of focus lately on all the ways that the last 12 months have been hard and frightening and challenging, but believe it or not, 2020 has had its share of bright spots, too. Here are 10 of the most inspiring, beautiful and joy-filled moments from this year’s outdoors news. 

They say hindsight is 2020 and that is definitely true as we’re all eager to put this disaster of a year in the dumpster and light it on fire. 

While many of us remember way back in January feeling like 2020 would be our year — we just couldn’t predict it would be our year of high unemployment, isolation, fear, sickness and uncertainties.