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Volume VII
Number 44
THE STATE Mo,ch 30
A Weekly Survey of North Carolina
Knmrrd *i iieond cUii uttlii, Jon* 1. 1999, >1 lh*
РоПоИг»
al North Oaroltn». under th. Aet of March 9. I *79
A close-up view of Morrow Mountain, in Stanly County.
Morrow
Mountain
A Male* park lliat is truly
one of the most delightful
places of scenic beauty
to be found anywhere in
\orth Carolina.
Kii CARL GOERCII
EVERYONE who ha* travelled
State Ilighwav No. 27 between
Troy and Albemarle ha* seen Mor¬
row Mountain, although many prob¬
ably do not know it by name.
Going West, your best view of the
mountain is t<> In- obtained just as you
cross the I
’ее
I »ee River, about ten
miles east of Albemarle. A funny
looking mountain, with a growth of
pine trees on its jH'nk that looks like
a tuft of hair on a man's head with
the rim shaved off.
But aside from this brief glimpse of
Morrow, the vast majority of North
Carolinians know nothing about the
plaee and arc entirely unai-qiiaint«4l
with its marvelous natural beauty.
We have driven along that stretch
of highway many times, and whenever
we crossed the IVe IW we usually
made a mental note that one of these
days we would go into the park and
see what it looked like.
For Morrow Mountain, as you
probably know, really i* a state park.
A fine highway has l«>eii built to tin-
very summit, innumerable shrubs and
flowers have licen planted in advan¬
tageous places and other landscape
U-aiitification has been in progress for
several months.
A Delightful Place
It is as lovely a place a* you will
find anywhere in North Carolina: imt
as awe-inspiring as Nantalialn Gorge,
nor as rugged as the country around
Wayu Itald or Clingman’s Dome, but
with a distinctive beauty of its own
that will create enthusiastic admira¬
tion on the part of all who see it.
And so it was that last Thursday,
driving from Charlotte to Raleigh, we
passed through Albemarle and, six
miles further along the highway, came
to the side road which lends into the
park.
It's a good dirt road. If the went hot
i-. bad, however, and you want to stick
to pavement, you can drive from Alhe
marie about half-way to Badin, and
then turn to the right. It'- hard-sui-
faeed all the way.
The C.C.C. l*>ys, whose camp i*
located near the eastern outskirts of
Albemarle, have been at work in the
park for many months and have done
an excellent job in cleaning it up and
adding to its natural attract iveiie.-.
There are some
2.7«и»
acres in the
tract. As you pas- through the stone
gateway and follow tlm winding road
which leads to the top of the moun¬
tain. you suddenly realize the
startling difference that has taken
place in the terrain since you left the
highway. There the country was roll¬
ing. with occasional long stretches of
llatland: but here are steep grades,
high embankment', and hairpin turns
that are as sharp a» any you will find
further west.
\W didn't cheek the distance, but
it must be about three mile- from the
entrance the top, A fine parking
place has been laid out, where you cun
leave your ear and walk around t In-
rim of the pine-tree tuft.
A Remarkable View
The view is magnificent. When we
were there Iasi week the visibility wa-
excellent, and far off toward the west-
