The Old NASA Station Up NC 215 Went Back to Work This Spring. Here's the Saturday Drive From Lake Toxaway.

"These instruments are 60 years old. They've been well maintained, but they can still get a little cranky."

Timothy DeLisle, head of education at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute, told BPR this at the end of March. One of PARI's 26-meter radio telescopes was about to swing toward the moon. The dish sits in the Pisgah National Forest near Rosman, a short way up NC 215 from US 64 east of Lake Toxaway. This spring it was tracking astronauts again for the first time in decades.

That's why this fall is a good time to make the drive. Many people still think of PARI as a museum on a hilltop. Over the past year it has been a working ground station, a nonprofit planning to sell or lease part of its land, and a free day out for North Carolina residents. It also sits on the same road as two of the most photographed waterfalls in Transylvania County.

What the Dishes Did in April

NASA built the Rosman Satellite Tracking Station in 1962 to support satellite communications and crewed missions, Apollo among them. The National Security Agency took over in 1981 and ran it as a top-secret intelligence site. The government closed it in 1995, and the site faced demolition until a Greensboro couple bought the property from the U.S. Forest Service and founded PARI as a science and education nonprofit.

In 2026, NASA picked PARI as one of 34 organizations worldwide to help track the Orion spacecraft during Artemis II. The Laurel Magazine noted that the selection put PARI alongside space organizations from 14 countries. NASA's own networks handled primary communications. PARI's role was to passively track Orion's radio signals and submit data that met NASA's updated Space Communications and Navigation standards.

Lamar Owen, PARI's chief technology officer, ran the antennas. He described the job to Spectrum News as receiving a set frequency from the spacecraft and measuring its Doppler shift, which shows how fast Orion was moving relative to the station. The station itself moves with the Earth. Spectrum reported that the measurements could help NASA work out trajectory details for a future lunar landing, with Artemis III expected in 2027.

DeLisle told BPR he hopes the work leads to more of the same. He said "there's more stuff out there that needs to be communicated with than there are currently ground stations to do the work."

The "For Sale" Headlines and What Is Actually Proposed

The Transylvania Times reported that the PARI property had been listed for $30 million. FOX Carolina was covering the listing by October 2025. WLOS repeated that whole-property framing as recently as April 2026.

A separate Transylvania Times report described the plan more narrowly. PARI said it would sell or lease part of its 200 acres and buildings and would stay "fully staffed and open for visitors, STEM education and outreach programming." The paper put it plainly: "PARI itself is not for sale."

According to that report, the archives, artifacts, museum collections and many of the scientific instruments are not on offer. The two 85-foot radio telescopes are a different matter. DeLisle said they "are not necessarily excluded from sale or lease," and added, "While we hope to retain access to them, they could be sold." He said the best fit would be a partner interested in half or more of the site, and that PARI did not yet know which buildings would become its main footprint.

FOX Carolina reported that any change of ownership needs approval from PARI's board and from the North Carolina attorney general. No buyer, partner or closing has been reported in the sources reviewed for this post. As of mid-October 2026, then, the museum is staying. What has not been settled is whether the two big dishes, one of which tracked Orion, stay with it.

What You Can See Inside

The museum is the part PARI has said it is keeping, and it holds more than most first-time visitors expect. These are the galleries PARI lists:

• NASA Heritage Gallery. Shuttle hardware and instruments, a Redstone rocket engine, a one-third-scale Apollo lunar lander, artifacts that have flown in space, and a satellite linked to early experimental television broadcasts.
• Meteorites. Specimens from the Moon, Mars and the asteroid Vesta, named falls such as Ensisheim, Murchison, Allende and Chelyabinsk, and a case of nine meteorites that landed in North Carolina.
• Minerals. Thousands of rocks, minerals and gems, including North Carolina specimens, agates, geodes, tourmalines and radioactive minerals.
• Operations & Control. Preserved equipment from the NASA and Department of Defense years, plus a working operations room.
• Fluorescent Tunnel. Minerals and everyday materials shown under different ultraviolet wavelengths.

BPR also mentioned a collection of thousands of astronomical glass plate negatives going back to the late 19th century.

Outside, the dishes give the grounds their scale. PARI names them individually:

PARI's sources reviewed here don't say whether 26 East or 26 West did the Artemis work. BPR reported only that "one of PARI's 26-meter radio telescopes" would lock onto Orion. PARI describes the outdoor areas as scenic trails, picnic spots and mountain views.

The Drive, Mile by Mile

From Lake Toxaway the whole outing runs along one road, and the waterfalls sit a little past the PARI turn. That makes it easy to see both in a single afternoon.

1. Panthertown Cafe to Headwaters Outfitters. The Laurel Magazine's September 2026 route starts at Panthertown Cafe in Toxaway and follows US 64 east toward Brevard for 8 miles to Headwaters Outfitters at NC 215. The Laurel calls the outfitter a local landmark for over 30 years and says one or two food trucks are usually on site.
2. Left onto NC 215 toward Balsam Grove. This stretch is part of the Forest Heritage Scenic Byway, which runs from US 64 near Rosman to the Blue Ridge Parkway at Beech Gap. The Laurel warns about blind curves and the cyclists who ride this climb.
3. Macedonia Church Road to PARI. A visitor guide to PARI puts the Macedonia Church Road turn 6 miles along NC 215 and the entrance 1.7 miles along Macedonia Church Road. PARI's address is 1 PARI Drive, Rosman, NC 28772, and the gate is on Macedonia Church Road. PARI warns the gate may be closed and posts call-box instructions on its visit page.
4. French Broad Falls. Back on NC 215, almost eight miles up from US 64, watch for Living Waters Ministry on the left and park in the gravel lot just before its driveway. Stone stairs lead down from the treeline with the falls in view right away. Also known as Mill Shoals Falls, the twin cascades drop about 15 feet beneath a bright-red former mill.
5. Bird Rock Falls. Also called Cathedral Falls, it lies about a quarter mile downstream. At the first rock overlook, follow the handrail left along the hillside, then turn right toward the river at the "cave." The boardwalks and approach can be slick when wet.

Both falls are on Living Waters Ministry property. The ministry, a Christian retreat in the restored mill, allows public access. The Laurel asks visitors to stay on designated paths, pack out their trash, and stay out of the water, since swimming is not allowed. There are no restrooms at the falls, so stop at Headwaters on the way up.

Picking the Saturday

PARI's calendar lists Fall Museum Day on Saturday, October 17, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Partners are covering admission, so it's free for North Carolina residents. Non-residents pay $12. You don't need to register or buy tickets ahead of time.

Other weeks take more planning. PARI lists museum hours as Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last admission at 3 p.m. It opens only on some Saturdays, and events, research and maintenance can limit public access. A self-guided visit costs $12 per person. PARI suggests checking the calendar or calling a few days ahead at (828) 862-5554. For a group, a reservation-only two-hour guided gallery tour costs $150 for up to 10 people, plus $15 for each extra guest. Every guest checks in at the Visitors Entrance, and some areas require a staff escort.

BPR has described public stargazing nights as part of PARI's offerings. As of mid-October, though, the calendar shows no dated stargazing night for this fall or winter. Fall Museum Day is the event on the books.

Collin Taylor writes about the plateau for neighbors who already know the main roads and want the reasons to take the side ones. If you'd like to talk about the Lake Toxaway side of the plateau over coffee before a drive up NC 215, Collin Taylor is happy to make time. Schedule Your Highlands Consultation.