Chimney Rock Rocks!

For our last Saturday adventure in Asheville we headed 27 miles southeast to Chimney Rock State Park. This was a unique experience because there are several awesome, collocated sights that are easily accessible using trails, stairways and even an elevator! Many movies have been filmed here, including “Last of the Mohicans” with Daniel Day-Lewis.

Our Day

We arrived at the park just after 9am which turned out to be a good thing, because as the hours passed, the number of people and the temperature continued to rise!

We headed straight for the stairs that would take us to the top of the huge granite monolith. We could have taken the elevator, but we wanted to take the stairs so that we could enjoy a few other features such as Pulpit Rock, The Subway, The Grotto and Opera Box. We took our time, made some friends along the way, and also got a snack at the snack bar located on the side of the mountain.

We made our way back down the stairs and then took the elevator back up! We wanted to ride in the only elevator located inside of a mountain. I felt a little edgy about it but we made it up, and back down just fine!

Our last trail was Hickory Nut Falls trail, which took us to the bottom of one of the tallest waterfalls east of the Mississippi. We were able to enjoy the cool water at the base of this 404-foot beauty. We actually watched “The Last of the Mohicans” last night just to see it in the movie.

Lastly we enjoyed some sandwiches I had packed at one of the picnic tables.

A Condensed History of Chimney Rock State Park

In 1890 Jerome Freeman purchased Chimney Rock and the surrounding 400 acres from a speculation company for $25.00. It was Freeman who first thought of making a trail to the base and erecting a stairway to the top of the Rock and opening it to the public.

In 1902 Dr. Lucius B. Morse paid Freeman $5,000 for 64 acres of Chimney Rock Mountain, including the Chimney and cliffs. Many small tracts purchased over the years expanded the Park to nearly 1000 acres. In 1946, plans were drawn for an elevator to transport people to the top. Blasted out of the solid granite cliff, a 198-foot tunnel led into the mountain to the 258-foot elevator shaft. A massive piece of construction, it took eight tons of dynamite and 18 months to complete.

In 2007 NC State Parks purchased the 996-acre park in 2007 for $24 million. Read more on the park’s website.