Peter J. Barr

Peter Barr is the author of three books: Exploring North Carolina's Lookout Towers (Blair, 2021), Hiking North Carolina’s Lookout Towers (John F. Blair, Publisher, 2008), and Hiking Great Smoky Mountains National Park (supporting author to Kevin Adams; Falcon Press, 2021). He initiated the North Carolina chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association, an organization working to restore and preserve historic fire lookout towers in western NC that has led to the restoration of 10 fire towers. An accomplished hiker and peakbagger, he has traversed all 900 miles of trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, reached the highest point in all 100 North Carolina counties as well as 40 U.S. states, and climbed more than 2,000 ranked peaks nationwide. He is the only person to have ever reached the summit of all 790 peaks above 4,000 feet in the eastern United States.

Peter most recently served as Conserving Carolina’s Trails Director and led the development of a sustainable public recreation trail network on conserved lands in North Carolina's dramatic Hickory Nut Gorge. Since 2010, he has led the creation of nearly 25 miles of new sustainable trails as well as the legislative authorization of the planned 130-mile Hickory Nut Gorge State Trail network. He is a two time nationally award-winning trail designer and project manager, having received the Coalition of Recreational Trails Achievement Award for outstanding Construction and Design in 2018 and in 2019. During his time at Conserving Carolina he also authored the monthly “Stories of the Land” column for the Hendersonville Times-News for six years, chronicling the human connection to protected lands and special natural places. In 2017, he was named the Rising Conservation Leader of the Year by NC Land Trust Council.

Peter earned a BS in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to his career in sustainable trails and land conservation, he completed a thru-hike of the 2,181-mile Appalachian Trail in 2010. Peter and his wife Allison reside in Asheville, and are currently adventuring across the United States full-time in a solar-equipped RV with their cat and Oscar (the Grouch).