Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
leavesofshrubssuchasrhododendronandlaurelalsoledtothenameheathslick.Butearly
travelers who had to push their way on foot through the dense, tangled vegetation came up
with a much more graphic epithet: laurel hell.
19.
Mt. Pisgah
AfterarcingtotheeastofAsheville,thedrive(atmilepost399)threadsthroughthequarter-
mile Pine Mountain tunnel. A total of 26 tunnels were blasted through hills and ridges dur-
ing parkway construction; 25 are located in North Carolina, while the route through Vir-
ginia required only one.
ImposingMt.Pisgah(namedforthebiblical peakfromwhichMosessawthePromised
Land) boasts one of the parkway's most popular recreation areas, featuring a lodge, camp-
ground,restaurant,hikingtrails,andseasonalrangerprograms.Theareaispopularnotonly
with people but also with black bears, which from time to time wander onto the camp-
ground. While bears might be seen by motorists almost anywhere along the parkway, this
thickly wooded upland is particularly noted for sightings of the shaggy, shambling mam-
mals. In the 18th and 19th centuries and before, the black bears that lived here had a num-
berofnotableneighbors,includingmigratingelkandbison,beavers,wolves,andmountain
lions.
Nearmilepost417theviewtotheeastisdominatedbyLookingGlassRock's600-foot-
high granite cliff, rising from the forest like a fortress of stone. The cliff got its name be-
cause water (ice in winter) on the sheer rock face sometimes reflects light as though the
mountainside were one gigantic shining mirror.
20.
Devils Courthouse
Cherokees and settlers alike believed that this rocky summit was haunted by demons. (Its
outcropsconcealacavewherethedevilhimselfwasbelievedtoholdcourt.)Theonlymys-
tical force a modern traveler is likely to experience is a sense of awe when beholding the
view from the top of the steep trail, where you can see as far as South Carolina, Georgia,
and Tennessee. Remember that alpine plants are fragile—stay on the marked trail.
21.
Richland Balsam
The name of this stop is short for Richland Mountain of the Balsam Range. Because of its
elevation—thehighestpointontheparkwayat6,047feet—thespruce-firforesthereseems
like a piece of Canada transported south. Birds associated with more northern regions are
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