Our tour of the park starts in the parking lot, which is itself of considerable elevation. A rather long and twisting road leads from the park entrance to the parking lot. On the left is the elevator which can take you to the top of chimney rock. I chose to take the trails instead.

Here is a view of the valey as seen from the parking lot.

Here is a view of the road leading into the park.

The climb up to chimney rock involved more than a few staris, some of which are shown here.

Here is another view of the parking lot. This gives you a feel of having already acquired a considerable elevation.

Here is a good view of the chimney rock take from the same elevation as the photo above. As you can see, we are not even close to the top yet.

After climbing an extensive series of stairs, we reach a level walkway that leads to the sky lounge and chimney rock itself.

Here is another view of the parking lot, taken from the top of chimney rock. Compare it to the like photo above and you get the feeling of having gained a considerable elevation.

Here is another picture taken from chimney rock. The clearing in lower right corner of the photo is a picnic area very near the park entrance.

While the climb to the top of chimney rock offered some spectacular views of the park, it is not the highest point on the park. The skyline trail takes you up tp the Opera Box, and from there a staircase (shown here) leads to a rock formation known as Devil's Head. The skyline trail eventually leads to Hickory Nut Falls.

Here is a portion of the skyline trail. The trail takes you to past Exclamation Point and Peregrine's Rest, which both offer some spectacular views.

Here is a picture taken along the skyline trail.

The are located at the top of the skyline trail. There are several small cascades, as shoen here, before the water makes the final 404-foot drop to the gorge below.

You can return by way of the skyline trail, or take the cliffside trail back down to the parking lot. I chose to take the cliffisde trail, and here is a photo taken not far from Hickory Nut Falls. In my opinion this was one of the most intersting portions of the park

In an area known as Nature's Showerbath, water drips down from above.

Here is another picture of the cliffside trail, taken a bit further down. As you can probably see, this trail is quite rugged.

Here is still another picture taken from the cliffside trail.

Approaching the level of chimney rock, the trail passes through Wild Cat Trap, which is a narrow gap between twp large rocks. This is very near the elevation of chimey rock.

Not far from here a long and narrow series of steps led back down to the parking lot.

Return to the Virtual Photo Album
For questions or comments contact mark.mcclure@uncp.edu
This page last updated April 18, 2003