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View Full Version : NC Buys Grandfather Mtn for State Park



BR360
09-30-2008, 08:26
North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley signed a contract to purchase nearly 3000 acres of the undeveloped section of Grandfather Mountain for $12 million. Famed throughout the South for its spectacular rugged ridgeline and its "Mile High Swinging Bridge," the Morton family was unanimous in this agreement to forever place the mountain in protection from development.

The mountain has been in the Morton family for over 50 years. In what one official called a win-win for the Mortons and the state, the unique agreement calls for a 600-acre easement that will allow the family to manage a non-profit corporation to continue to operate the Nature Center, the Mile-High Swinging Bridge, and McRae Meadows, site of the Grandfather Mountain Highland games.

NC State Parks will manage the mountain wilderness as an undeveloped state park. The rugged trails will be patroled by NC Park Rangers and seasonal Rangers from Grandfather Mountain. The mountain that dominates this section of the Blue Ridge has two summits over 5,900 feet. The state's highest winds ever recorded occurred on Grandfather mountain, at over 180 mph before the anemometer broke. The mountain gets an average of 56 inches of snow.

In the 1970's, Hugh Morton (1921-2006) finally won his battle with the National Park Service to allow the final section of the Blue Ridge Parkway to be built across the southern slopes of Grandfather. But the terrain was extremely rugged, and the Park Service was dedicated to protecting the fragile alpine environment. The only acceptable means to complete the section was to build it as a "bridge," and so the world-famous Linn Cove Viaduct was built and completed in 1983 at a cost of $10 million.

The 13.5 mile Tanawha Trail was also built along this same section at a cost of $750,000, and includes stone treadway, stone steps, and wooden bridges that were lowered by helicopter.

The purchase for NC is the second in a year of a private park and tourist attraction. In 2007, the state purchased Chimney Rock Park.

MOWGLI
09-30-2008, 08:30
What did the state pay? Anybody know?

BR360
09-30-2008, 08:31
The rugged nature of this spectacular peak.

4867

BR360
09-30-2008, 08:33
Payment edited into first posting.

Marta
09-30-2008, 08:41
An exciting development...er, non-development plan for the big mountain. I'm very pleased.

MOWGLI
09-30-2008, 08:47
Payment edited into first posting.

Thanks. Beautiful area!

Cookerhiker
09-30-2008, 11:32
I was just there last week and enjoyed the hike up to Calloway Peak immensely.

Tennessee Viking
09-30-2008, 12:31
So since its going to become a state park, do we still have to pay $15 or hide the kids in the car trunk to get in.

Marta
09-30-2008, 13:14
I haven't seen the details yet. When the state bought Chimney Rock, they kept the fees in place for at least a few years. I imagine they'll do the same with Grandfather Mountain.

emerald
09-30-2008, 13:53
Thanks for posting it. I likely wouldn't have heard for some time otherwise.

halibut15
09-30-2008, 18:15
Sweet. Knowing development these days, that could've easily become another high-end subdivision otherwise. Way to go, NC! :banana

Cabin Fever
09-30-2008, 21:23
Classic example of development in the backcountry is Wolf Laurel just down the hill from Big Bald in NC. And by just down the hill, I mean ten minutes and you are on the front porch of a condo. At one point in that area, you can walk no less than 50 yards and be at a house if you know where this is at.

Tennessee Viking
09-30-2008, 23:39
Classic example of development in the backcountry is Wolf Laurel just down the hill from Big Bald in NC. And by just down the hill, I mean ten minutes and you are on the front porch of a condo. At one point in that area, you can walk no less than 50 yards and be at a house if you know where this is at.At least you can find a water spigot fairly easily. Then you can take the chair lift during ski season..lol


Being next to the parkway, a development would have had a hard time going up. Then again, its a ski haven on the nearby mountains.

Flush2wice
10-01-2008, 04:56
12 million for 3000 acres is basically a gift to the state by the Morton family.

sherrill
10-01-2008, 08:32
So since its going to become a state park, do we still have to pay $15 or hide the kids in the car trunk to get in.

According to an article in the Sunday News and Observer (Raleigh):

The family plans to transfer ownership of the 600-acre park area to the new nonprofit group it is forming. Adult admission of $14 will remain the same. That includes access to the hiking trails that will be part of the new state park. The backcountry trails also can be accessed at two other points for a $5 fee. No significant changes are expected.

BR360
10-02-2008, 19:17
Thanks for the extra info about fees under the new arrangment.

$15.00 is sort of a steep fee for dayhiking, but it's a good value for the benefit. I "bought-up" to a $35 season-pass a couple of years ago for unlimited access, and camped out there near Calloway Peak one night. It was great!

Having hiked all throughout the Blue Ridge from Front Royal, VA to Georgia, I think Grandfather is the most spectacular mountain in the range. Beats the Blacks, the Smokies, the Nantahalas, Mt. Rogers / Grayson Highlands, Roan Highlands, Shenandoah, etc.

The rocky peaks requiring the ladders to traverse and the sheer prominence with the wicked weather make Grandfather outstanding. IMHO.:)

Hikerhead
10-02-2008, 19:18
I agree. What a place.


Thanks for the extra info about fees under the new arrangment.

$15.00 is sort of a steep fee for dayhiking, but it's a good value for the benefit. I "bought-up" to a $35 season-pass a couple of years ago for unlimited access, and camped out there near Calloway Peak one night. It was great!

Having hiked all throughout the Blue Ridge from Front Royal, VA to Georgia, I think Grandfather is the most spectacular mountain in the range. Beats the Blacks, the Smokies, the Nantahalas, Mt. Rogers / Grayson Highlands, Roan Highlands, Shenandoah, etc.

The rocky peaks requiring the ladders to traverse and the sheer prominence with the wicked weather make Grandfather outstanding. IMHO.:)

chknfngrs
10-02-2008, 19:40
Makes me wish the state stepped in and stopped Sugar Mountain's infamous sky-sore. . .

Egads
10-02-2008, 23:11
North Carolina is buying a mountain for a state park & Georgia is closing 13 state parks? How did NC manage that?

Tipi Walter
10-03-2008, 07:41
I lived in Boone for 30 years and me and my buddies backpacked thruout the area and we never considered Grandfather to be a worthy backpacking destination. Why? Cuz it's a tourist trap, pure and simple. Who wants to spend $10 a night backpacking?:

http://www.grandfather.com/nature_walks/rates_and_hiking_permits.php

Just punch in this following opening home page and you'll see why it's a rolling couch-potato tourist trap like Mt Washington(check out the bridge and the parking lot):

http://www.grandfather.com/index.php

Sure, there's spectacular views, and any fat couch potato can reach them on the mountain road that cuts thru the mountain. In fact, there are several roads on and around Grandfather: Hiway 105, Hiway 221, the tourist road, and the Parkway Viaduct which cuts right across the back side of the mountain. And all around the mountain at the bottom are condo developments and tourist shops. If I owned the place and loved it, I sure wouldn't have cut a road to the top. What were they thinking? $$$$??

The real backpacking action is down off the mountain to the south in the Wilson Creek/Linville Gorge/Mountains To Sea Trail areas(Harpers Creek/Lost Cove Cliffs/Upper Creek/etc).

sherrill
10-03-2008, 09:24
I tend to agree with Walter as my feelings towards the mountain and surrounding area are the same. I have always wished that the state could have done this before all the development, but I'm looking forward.

I would encourage anyone interested to hike the backcountry trails and avoid going through the front gate. It is a unique mountain and worth the 5 bucks to explore it.

Some of my best camping memories are on the Daniel Boone Trail - one of the worst thunderstorms I've ever camped in, and a pic of my group leaning about a 45 degree angle into 50 mph wind gusts on the summit of Calloway Peak.

BR360
10-03-2008, 17:09
The majesty of the mountain cannot be denied...

...despite the touristy nature of the developed area AND the Blue Ridge Parkway on the south slope as "scars on the face of Nature."

Yet Grandfather is bigger than that, and once 400 yards away from these minimal tourist intrusions, the hiking trails are as satisfying to hike, maybe more so, as many places on the AT. Even with the nearby ugliness of the mountain developments and the tragic condo eyesore at Sugar Mtn.

Not defending it, but explaining...

50 years ago, when Grandfather was first developed, the road, visitor center, and swinging bridge were designed as for-profit tourist attractions. Hiking was perhaps even less a recreational pursuit then. So due to access provided by their motor-cars, hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions, have relished the rugged beauty of this area. Some like myself were inspired to become conservationists.

The Mortons have been fiercely protective of NOT developing the bulk of the mountain (though I believe they did develop the valley area along NC 105 many years ago). Their recent agreement of selling it to the state for $20 million is a GIANT gift, as mountainside viewscape-land in the nearby Blowing Rock area is selling for at least $200k/acre.

The "tourist area" made enough profit to keep the Mortons from developing the rest of the mountain.

The following properties abut one another:
> Grandfather Mountain, headwaters for the beautiful Wilson Creek watershed;
> Moses Cone and Julian Price Parks (maintained by the National Park Service as part of the Blue Ridge Parkway);
> Proposed Wilson Creek wilderness area;
> Steels Creek watershed (part of Pisgah National Forest);
> Linville Gorge Wilderness Area and surrounding Pisgah National Forest;
> Lake James State Park

Totaled, this area of largely undeveloped land (with some in-dwellings) and road easements amasses to almost 250 square miles, by my rough estimation using DeLorme TopoUSA..

Many opportunities to backpack in this area and stay away for a week or more!