This Land, Your Land

The Division of Parks and Recreation has begun the process of creating a master plan for Chimney Rock State Park to guide the long-term development of the new park in the Hickory Nut Gorge region of Rutherford County.

Greenways Inc., a Durham environmental planning and landscape architecture firm, will develop the master plan with input from the division’s planning, natural resource and operations staffs as well as from the public and communities in Hickory Nut Gorge, the state's news release says. The target date for completion of the master plan is spring 2010.

The study will include an opportunity for written public comment and a public meeting to present a draft plan, likely to be scheduled near the end of 2009, the release says.

The master plan is to address the type and scope of recreation facilities, the proper protection of sensitive habitats and rare species, the visitor experience at the Chimney Rock access, the location of state park infrastructure such as roads, entrances and a visitor center, and the development of a comprehensive trail system.

Chimney Rock State Park, bought by the state in 2007, encompasses more than 4,300 acres on both sides of the gorge. It includes the 996-acre private park known as Chimney Rock, featuring the namesake spire, Hickory Nut Falls and surrounding trails. The private park, which is still operated by a private firm, is the only portion of the state park open to the public.

The state park includes the so-called "world’s edge" escarpment and properties on Rumbling Bald, Cane Creek, Rich, Stony, Sugarloaf and Round Top mountains. The Nature Conservancy has indicated it will enlarge the park with additional acreage it holds in the gorge, including more than 800 acres on the crest of Rumbling Bald.

Greenways worked with the state parks system to develop an action plan for the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Its projects have also included work for the American Tobacco Trail, Grand Canyon National Park, the Fredricksburg-Spotsylvania National Military Park and a Nevada state park.