Welcome to the Raven’s View
Tuesday, August 1st, 2006
Welcome to the Raven’s View. This blog will be about three things:
- Gear
- Black Dome
- Recreation and environmental issues
I promise there won’t be too many shameless plugs for Black Dome. In fact, I’ll be concentrating mostly on subject #3. This is, after all, MY blog, and I’ve been needing a place to rant and rave.
So, first up, let’s talk about Chimney Rock.
In case you’ve been living in a cave and haven’t heard, the owners of Chimney Rock, a private park south of Asheville, dissed the state’s offer to purchase for $20 million. Instead, they put the land up for sale on Sotheby’s, starting the bidding at $55 million.
A treasure like this should be preserved for future generations. Now, we all know there are some conscientious developers out there. Many of them, however, would put a condo on yer grandma’s grave if you let ‘em. Let’s hope the next owner will maintain public access to this unique area. Better yet, let’s hope the owners let the state buy them out.
Chimney Rock would be the anchor of a Hickory Nut Gorges state parks system and a huge tourism draw for the state.
We’ve got “Save Chimney Rock” bumper stickers at the Tunnel Road store. You can also buy them online and learn more about what you can do to help at
