Setzer State Fish Hatchery, Brevard, N.C.

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Setzer State Fish Hatchery

At the Setzer Fish Hatchery, which because of its location in the Pisgah National Forest near Brevard is the state’s best known and visited, the thing to do is to see and feed the trout. Chumming the waters of the raceways with feed from gumball-machine-style dispensers, brings instant, sometimes manic results.

Click on the video to see the hatchery’s brown trout in action.

Elsewhere on the grounds, the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education has indoor and outdoor exhibits, including a model backyard habitat garden, and a short paved trail through hardwoods and Rhododendron.

The trail is dotted with such exhibits as “Why Hunter Orange?” The hunter stands out, of course, but can you see the fox?

A statue in the parking lot commemorates the Civilian Conservation Corps’ Camp John Rock, which was at the site from 1933 to 1941. The young men of the CCC did much of the work to establish the national forests in North Carolina and elsewhere, as well as work on National Park sites, such as the Blue Ridge Parkway, and North Carolina state parks, including at Morrow Mountain State Park.

From the parking lot, several trails lead into the forest. Down a trail that parallels the Davidson River, a couple of families had hauled a lot of equipment in a pretty good ways to set up camp in a clearing off of the ridge we walked. We could hear children playing in the river beyond them.

The Bobby N. Setzer State Fish Hatchery and the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education are off of U.S. 64 in Transylvania County (see the map below). The Davidson River Campground and Sycamore Flats picnic area are nearby, as is a Pisgah National Forest Ranger Station and visitors center.