How old is chimney rock

Morse first glimpsed the magnificent Rock. Born in in Missouri, Dr. Morse was a practicing physician when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Advised to seek a more healthful climate, he made his way to the thermal belt of Western North Carolina. He loved to wander the area, often riding horseback down to Chimney Rock to view the giant monolith towering over the ten-mile gorge. It so intrigued him that he paid a man 25 cents to take him by donkey to the top.

Surrounded by panoramic vistas, he conceived his dream here, not only of the Park but of the development of Lake Lure and the town of the same name. At the time, Jerome B. 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. Many small tracts purchased over the years expanded the Park to nearly acres. In those days, tourists arrived on horseback or in carriages from the railroad stations of Hendersonville and Rutherfordton.

Morse and his brothers built a bridge across the Rocky Broad River and started a three-mile narrow dirt road up to the base of the Chimney. Dedicated on July 4, , the bridge was soon swept away by Hurricane Hilda and the great flood of That bridge stood strong until March , when a new steel bridge replaced the old structure.

Guilford Nanney, a local man with inventiveness and skill, was responsible for the first trail the Cliff trail and for the complicated series of stairways that lead from the parking lot around Pulpit Rock and the Rock Pile up to the top of the Chimney. This was the beginning of the modern improvements, vantage points and trail system to Hickory Nut Falls that exist in the Park today. As time passed, visitors did not relish walking the hundreds of stairs on the trail from the parking area to the summit of the Chimney.

After several million years, the surface of the plains became elevated. Erosion then broke down the strata, revealing Chimney Rock's current shape. A hard sandstone cap at the summit could be shielding the softer, more vulnerable layers below from eroding as rapidly as they otherwise might.

Over miles in length, the historic Oregon Trail ran all the way from Missouri to the Pacific Northwest. For many of them, seeing Chimney Rock was cause for celebration because it meant that the first and easiest third of their hard journey was just about over. Accordingly, when historian Merrill Mattes reviewed journal entries written by pioneers on the Oregon Trail, she found more references to Chimney Rock than to any other landmark.

Popularized during the Gold Rush of the s and s, the California Trail covered much of the same ground as the better-known Oregon Trail.

For many, the geological marker was an optical illusion. Some claimed that Chimney Rock could be seen upwards of 30 miles away, and though one travelled toward the rock-spire, Chimney Rock always appeared to be off in the distance—unapproachable.

Chimney Rock M. Forsberg, Nebraska DED Because of this optical effect, early travel accounts varied in their description of the rock. Some travelers believed that the rock spire may have been upwards of 30 feet higher than its current height, suggesting that wind, erosion, or a lightning strike had caused the top part of the spire to break off.

Throughout the ages, the rock spire has continued to capture the imaginations and the romantic fascinations of travelers heading west.

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