Chimney Rock will soon be home to a new rock-climbing area featuring some of the toughest climbs in North Carolina.
It’s welcome news for one of the communities that was hardest hit by Hurricane Helene.
Two nonprofits — Access Fund and the Carolina Climbers Coalition — recently purchased more than 16 acres of land near Chimney Rock State Park featuring towering cliffs that offer a dramatic view of Hickory Nut Gorge. The area is called Lower Ghost Town, after an old amusement park that used to sit in the meadow below the cliffs.
Mike Reardon, executive director of the Carolina Climbers Coalition, told BPR the acquisition comes after a 25-year effort to secure access to the land.
“And now, with kind of some of the Hurricane Helene hits, we’re happy to purchase it and try to get people back onto the property and get hikers and climbers back out there and enjoying it,” Reardon said.
The area has more than 50 different climbs — some of which feature steep slopes and overhangs — including a trio called The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. The Good and The Bad are already established as some of North Carolina’s most challenging routes, while The Ugly remains a work in progress.
“The Ugly has not ‘gone free’ yet — that means that the climber has fallen each time they’ve tried to attempt it,” Reardon said. “There’s protection for falls, so that’s not a falling injury. And so, they haven’t done it all in one successful go yet without falling. When that does happen, it’s called ‘redpointing’ the route, meaning that you’ve gone from the bottom to the top without any falls. Then that will more than likely be the most difficult climb in the state of North Carolina.”
The upper portion of the Ghost Town cliffs is owned by Chimney Rock State Park and is not yet accessible to the public.
Aiding the groups in securing funding was the Great Trails State Coalition, a group of nonprofits, businesses, local governments and other entities advocating for increased investment in North Carolina’s trail infrastructure.
The Carolina Climbers Coalition and Access Fund plan to build a trail connecting the climbing area to Main Street in downtown Chimney Rock, with about half of the trail expected to be completed by April 2026.
Once the trail is done, Reardon said access will be easy: Visitors “can park at the barbecue place and walk up from the trailhead.”
The Lower Ghost Town project dovetails with the Chimney Rock and Lake Lure region’s renewed focus on outdoor recreation as an economic driver after the devastation wrought by last year’s historic storm.
“It was really heavily hit by Helene and heavily impacted,” Reardon said. “And having this just incredible, world-class climbing area but also incredible hiking area, trail, natural area accessible and free and open to the public, and right on Main Street … I think those types of economic impacts tying to conservation lands [are] just right in line with what a hopeful future for Chimney Rock Village and the greater Hickory Nut Gorge region could be.”
Once the trail-building effort gets underway, the Carolina Climbers Coalition will be looking for volunteers to take part. Information on trail work days will be posted online here.
