Amid the 100th anniversary celebration of the private park established by the Morse Family in 1916, along with the centennial of the North Carolina State Park System, it’s fitting that the park and its visitors are growing and stretching into a new century with new ideas and new outdoor activities.
James Ledgerwood, Chimney Rock State Park superintendent since 2011, and his ranger staff, along with many partners, including the Friends of Chimney Rock State Park, the Nature Conservancy and the Carolina Climbers Coalition, have secured land on the gorge’s northern side while improving trail access to Rumbling Bald and the myriad boulders strewn threw the forest, with names like The Wave, Moby Dick and Split Crack.
“When I first got here, this was a dirt disaster,” Ledgerwood said of the parking lot on a recent tour of the Rumbling Bald access. “People have been coming up here forever to climb, using a dirt logging road, with ATVs and trucks right up to the rock face, creating a lot of resource damage.”
Improvements are being funded with the voter-approved Connect NC Bond of $1.5 million. Besides Rumbling Bald, the rest of the bond money will go to create a public access at the World’s Edge, a remote area on the south side of Hickory Nut Gorge, another part of the 6,200-acre patchwork quilt of Chimney Rock State Park.
The World’s Edge was the first chunk of land acquired by the state for what was to become Chimney Rock State Park. “We’re working to obtain the cul de sac at the World’s Edge, where the McGraw Family owns 6 acres. That would give the public another access point into the park,” he said.
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I am Jeff Clark, founder of Internet Brothers, producer of this blog, and passionate about hiking. I live in Western NC near the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are just out my door, so the content will focus on these areas, but let me know what you would like to see on the site. 
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