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Balsam Mountains: Cedar Rock |
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Location: Transylvania County, NC, 5 miles west of Brevard, Pisgah Ranger District, Pisgah National Forest
USGS Topographic Maps: Shining Rock, Rosman
This area, and the mountain of the same name, lie on the south side of the Davidson River, south of the Daniel Ridge Area. It is part of the very popular hiking and camping complex. The major trail terminus for the complex is at the Davidson River Fish Hatchery and North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Education Center on FR 475 just west of the ever-popular Looking Glass Falls on U.S. 276. |
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Approximate size:
8,694 acres
Old growth acreage:
123 acres |
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An extensive trail system includes the Art Loeb Trail, trails completely around the base of Cedar Rock, as well as over it, with connections to the Fish Hatchery area to the north and to Cathey's Creek and the Kukendahl Group Campground to the south toward Brevard.
Cedar Rock Mountain itself is a massif with spectacular bare rock faces, much used by local climbers and camps. It offers wonderful views of the Blue Ridge, the Davidson River Valley and its companion monadnock-like mountains, Looking Glass Rock and John Rock.
Visitors standing here on these billion-year-old rock faces, rounded from exfoliation (as granite does with millions of years of weathering) can appreciate that these are but the stubs of ancient mountains worn down after being thrust up by massive tectonic plate collisions some 300 million years ago. This is primitive land, never glaciated, never covered with oceans, where the forces of evolution have worked uninterrupted to produce biodiversity only the tropics can rival.
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Forest Communities:
John Rock: Granitic Domes, Acidic Cove, Dry Oak, Subxeric Oak, and Pine-Oak Heath.
Chestnut Knob: High Elevation Northern Red Oak and Dry Oak. Rom Ferguson found cliff communities on steep, northwest-facing slopes in this area.
Cedar Rock Mountain: Granitic Domes (with seeps), Dry Oak, Oak Heath, Carolina Hemlock Forest, and possibly Montane Cedar-Hardwood Woodland on south-facing slopes.
Unusual Plants and Animals:
* Uncommon and rare plant species are associated with John Rock and Cedar Rock Mountain plutons in this area.
* Dr. Roger Powell, a zoology professor, has conducted black bear studies in the Pisgah District for over 10 years. Numerous mountains in this roadless area show up as core black bear habitat on his maps. Parts of this roadless area have higher black bear concentrations than more roaded areas nearby. |
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