Ed Collins, Charlie Larus and Bob Stelloh went to Copper Bald on 7/2/02, which was several weeks past peak bloom, and returned by way of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Copper Bald is on the Appalachian Trail, about 4.5 miles north of Wayah Bald. While it may have been a bald once, now it's covered with big trees and lots of mature mountain laurel and Rhododendron maximum, along with the native azaleas.

To get to Wayah Bald from Franklin, go a few miles south on US 64 to a right onto Old Murphy Road, and an immediate left at Loafer's Glory store onto Wayah Road. The Wayah Bald turnoff to the right is 9.3 miles from that intersection (and 4.0 miles up to the Wayah Bald parking lot). There are nice wildflowers and R. calendulaceum on the way up, and great stands of R. arborescens at the top. From there, you could hike about 4.5 miles on the Appalachian Trail to Copper Bald, or you can drive about 20 miles to the Burningtown Gap trail head.

To drive to the Copper Bald trail head, go past the Wayah Bald exit 1.6 miles to a right onto Forest Service road 711, go 15.1 miles on FS 711 to a dead-end at Cold Creek Road, go right on Cold Creek Road 0.5 miles to a right onto Bens Creek Road, go 2.2 miles to the end at the AT.

From the trail head, hike left (north) on the AT 1.5 miles (and 1000 feet up) to the azaleas. It's about an hour to an hour and a half hike. Most of the azaleas we have seen are to the right of the AT, uphill and close to the trail. If you can't see them from the trail, you can probably see where folks have gone off the trail to get to them. While there are a few isolated azaleas, they tend to be in groups. There are some groups of R. calendulaceum, others of R. cumberlandense, others of R. arborescens, and many groups of interspecific hybrids.

Here's a topo map of the area. Copper [Ridge] Bald is at the upper right, and Wayah Bald is just off the bottom.