2025 Event Dates: 

May 19-20
May 22-25
May 27
May 29-31
June 1-3
June 5-7

Join us at the Cradle of Forestry for a once-a-year spectacle as the elusive Blue Ghost Fireflies light up the night. Tickets go on sale April 8—don’t miss your chance to experience this mesmerizing natural wonder!

The Blue Ridge Mountains are home to a very unique creature that some say resembles a collection of fairies carrying blue candles through the forest. 

The Blue Ghost Firefly (Phausis reticulata) is a secretive, hard-to-find native insect that calls our area home, and for a very short amount of time in late Spring, they inhabit our surrounding woodlands of Transylvania County. 

You’ll experience an educational presentation at our outdoor amphitheater starting at 8:45 pm and then use the cover of darkness and special flashlights to go in search of the Blue Ghost fireflies while hiking on a paved trail through the forest. Team members will be stationed at key locations around the trail to provide further information about this amazing natural phenomenon. Please feel free to congregate near these areas with your fellow firefly enthusiasts, or go explore on your own! We require everyone to stay on the trail to prevent habitat damage, and team members will clear the trail and require everyone to depart by 10:30 pm.

Ticket Purchase/Pre-registration is required. Actual tickets are not provided. Your ticket purchase receipt serves as your ticket/date confirmation. This is a light rain or shine, family-friendly event!
In order to maximize our participant experience while minimizing our impact on the resource, we limit each night to 150 participants.

Due to the uniqueness of the insects in the natural habitat, it is very difficult to capture photos. Very specific camera equipment is needed and it is almost impossible to capture a photo with a phone camera. Flash from the cameras disturbs the natural habitat and because it is dark, other participants will not see your equipment and you run the risk of damage. Setting up a tripod in the cover of darkness and attempting to capture photos with 150 additional people on the nightly tour is very difficult and does not provide a positive experience for both you or other tour attendees. The best way to view this natural phenomenon is to capture the images in your mind’s eye.