Climbing to Chimney Rock and Beyond

Over the July 4th holiday, we spent several days in Henry's homeland, western North Carolina.

If you're one of those Energizer-bunny-on-a-Stairmaster types, this is the place for you! And if you take a dog, you'll ensure that you get to experience as many of those steps as possible.

Dogs are welcome at North Carolina's Chimney Rock State Park, as you're told on their website and at the entrance. The only place dogs can't go is the elevator that whisks you up to the Chimney Rock overlook. That means you'll need to take a series of staircases to get to Chimney Rock (and more stairs to get up to the actual overlook). All of that was perfectly fine for us. We're used to walking, and Henry's young and in excellent shape. If you have an elderly dog, or one that's very overweight, I wouldn't attempt it.

Once we got up to Chimney Rock, we found more stairs. Hmmm, where did they go? We had to go take a look at Devil's Head. And guess what we found – more stairs leading up to Exclamation Point. So of course we had to go do that, too. And when I casually throw out the term stairs, I mean MANY stairs. Numerous sets of them, one after another, leading up, up, up.

It was during that final ascent that several people coming down stopped and said to Henry, “You poor thing. They're making you climb this?” Had I not been panting harder than the dog and on the verge of collapsing, I would have assured these kind folks that Henry was perfectly fine. When human traffic permitted, he bounded to the top of each staircase and waited on me. Again, if you have a dog that's not used to physical activity, don't attempt it, especially not on a hot day.

 Exclamation Point, highest point in the park. The humans had to rest for

10 minutes or so while Henry roamed around sniffing.

Chimney Rock Overlook and Lake Lure

Hickory Nut Falls

If you or your pooch aren't up to climbing the steps to Chimney Rock and beyond, try the Hickory Nut Falls Trail which is about 1.5 miles round-trip (out and back, not a loop). There's some incline going to the falls, but it's not strenuous and the trail is easy walking. The water at the base of the falls provides a nice cool off for dogs.