Blackberry Mountain Wildflower Guide

Spanning 5,200 acres in the Great Smoky Mountains, Blackberry Mountain is rife with beautiful regional plant life. While evergreens keep some color along the trails through the Winter, the vibrant blooms of Spring and Summer give a natural glow to the Mountain that you have to see to believe.

In addition to the plant life that was already thriving, as stewards of the land, our team wanted to support growth across the Mountain. The Blackberry Mountain Grounds Team began The Wildflower Project as an effort to reintroduce native plant species to the Mountain’s landscape, and they’ve planted over 500 regional wildflower blooms since 2019!

With the help of the Grounds team, we put together a wildflower guide so you know exactly what blooms to keep an eye out for when you’re exploring the Mountain!

In Spring
The wildflowers lining more than 30 miles of private trails on the Mountain are predicted to reach peak bloom in mid-April! We recommend a hike on Reed Creek Trail, Double Branch Nature Trail, Hunters Haven Trail and Long Ridge Trail to see their splendor.

• MARCH: Blood Root, Buttercups, Columbine, Dutchman’s Breeches, Jack-in-the Pulpit, Mayapple, Red Maple, Spice Bush, Spring Beauty, Squirrel Corn, Trout Lily, Violets, Wind Flower, Yellow-Root, Trilium
• APRIL: Black Haw, Bleeding Heart, Columbine, Dwarf Crested Iris, Cucumber Tree, Dogwood, Dutchman’s Breeches, Fire Pink, Tiarella, Fringed Phacelia, Golden Ragwort, Indian Paintbrush, Ironwood, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Mayapple, Phlox, Redbud, Serviceberry, Silverbell, Solomon’s Seal, Spring Beauty, Squirrel Corn, Stone Crop, Trillium, Trout Lily, Tulip Poplar, Violets, Virginia Bluebell, Wild Geranium, Wood Sorrel
• MAY: Bear grass, Bleeding Heart, Calycanthus, Columbine, Crested Dwarf Iris, Cucumber Tree, Flame Azalea, Foam Flower, Hobble Bush, Indian Paintbrush, Large Flowered Magnolia, Mountain Laurel, Painted Trillium, Solomon’s Seal, Stone Crop, White Azalea, Wild Geranium, Wild Iris, Wild Orchids (including Ladies Slipper)

In Summer
Come June and July, the Mountain’s fields and pastures are alive with color, brightened by hundreds of native floral species. Don’t miss the chance to wander along the Valley Path for prime viewing.

• JUNE: Allegheny Myrtle, Beard Tongue, Black Snakeroot, Brook Lettuce, Butterfly Weed, Catawba, Common Elder, Field Daisy, Galax, Goats Rue, Hydrangea, Magnolia, Mountain Laurel, Mountain Stewartis, New Jersey Tea, Rhododendron, Spiderwort, Yellow Ragwort
• JULY: Bergamot, Black-eyed Susan, Coreopsis, Dutchman’s Pipe Vine, Flowering Raspberry, Hercules Club, Indian Pipe, Jewel-weed, Mountain Stewartia, Ox-eye Daisy, Partridge Berry, Passion Flower, Phlox, Orange-fringed Orchid, Queen Anne’s Lace, Rhododendron, Sourwood, Star Grass, Trumpet Creeper, Wild Lilies
• AUGUST: Bee Balm, Betony, Cardinal flower, Clematis, Evening Primrose, Goldenrod, Jewel Weed, Joe Pye Weed, Meadow Beauty, Mountain Mints, St. Johns Wort, Turtle Head, Wild Asters, Yellow-fringed Orchid
• SEPTEMBER: Asters, Blue Gentians, Fleabane, Gerardia, Golden Aster, Goldenrod, Ironweed, Lobelias, Sunflowers, Yarrow