We got great news last week from our friends at Chimney Rock Park, a beautiful state park in the Hickory Nut Gorge area about 30 minutes south of the Inn on Mill Creek. The park is named for a huge granite monolith called the Chimney, on which you can stand and see awesome views that span for miles. Here’s a photo we took looking up at the Chimney in 2009:
Access to the Chimney has been restored after months of work to improve the Outcroppings Trail, leading from the upper parking lot to the stairs at the base of the Chimney. What we like about the “new and improved” Outcroppings Trail is that it now allows for two-way foot traffic so you no longer need to squeeeeze to get by someone on the way up as you head down or vice versa. This is a seriously fabulous improvement. Additionally, the Outcroppings Trail is pet-friendly, so four-legged friends (on leashes) can get by more easily as well.