Chimney Rock, North Carolina

Chimney Rock is a 315 foot-tall fragment of an adjacent granite monolith, with stairs and an elevator to take visitors to the top. It is a nationally known landmark, that was privately owned and developed into a 1,000 acre park and attraction over more than 100 years. The first stairway to the top was built in 1885. In 1902, 64 acres including Chimney Rock was purchased by a tubercular Dr. Lucius B. Morse, from Missouri, whose family continued to develop the site with a visitor center, a Sky Lounge, overlooks, and trails featuring other natural attractions, including the Opera Box, the Needle’s Eye, Hickory Nut Falls (which was featured in the film The Last of the Mohicans), and a balanced rock called the Devil’s Head. In 2006, citing financial shortfalls for the sprawling operation and prohibitive inheritance taxes, the family put the park on the market for $55million. A deal was finally struck with the state to acquire it, with some support from a private donor, and it is now operated as a State Park.