This Land, Your Land

The state's purchase of land around Rumbling Bald Mountain will expand Chimney Rock State Park by more than 20 percent, the Asheville Citizen-Times reports.

The N.C. Council of State agreed Tuesday to pay the Nature Conservancy $4.2 million for 1,222 acres at Rumbling Bald, which is just north of Chimney Rock in the Hickory Nut Gorge.

The tract includes Rumbling Bald Mountain, with its a massive rock face visible from Lake Lure, steep cliffs, granite domes and a mature hickory forest, Nature Conservancy in North Carolina spokesman Debbie Crane told the newspaper.

The state established Chimney Rock State Park in 2007 after buying the Rutherford County tourist attraction from private owners in 2005, and has continued to add adjacent land to it. The park now comprises more than 5,700 acres.

The master plan for Chimney Rock State Park calls for development of three day use areas in phases over the next 20 years. The Rumbling Bald area, which is popular with rock climbers, is to be developed in phase three.

Karen Chavez, of the Asheville Citizen-Times' Girls Gone Outdoors blog has outlined the winter closing schedule for campgrounds, roads, visitor centers, picnic grounds, LeConte Lodge, stores and stables in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.