Скачать или смотреть Carvers Gap to Roan High Bluff | Crazy Views | Cloudland Hotel Site | Largest Rhododendron Garden

Our pursuit of 6,000 foot peaks in North Carolina led us back to Roan Highlands at the Tennessee border. We started at the Carvers Gap, stopped at the previously visited Roan High Knob and on to Cloudland Mountain and Roan High Bluff. This moderate 8-mile out-and-back is especially interesting as it passes by the highest shelter on the Appalachian Trail, snakes around the world’s largest natural rhododendron garden and crosses over the site of a once massive and iconic turn of the century lodging, the Cloudland Hotel. The stops along the way will indeed keep your attention as you make your way to the epic views that await you at Roan High Bluff.

1885 marked the completion of the legendary Cloudland Hotel that was built atop Roan as a sanctuary from the summer heat, pests such as snakes and mosquitoes, and health issues like hay fever. The 166-room lodge became a place of legend, touting that 100 peaks could be viewed from the hotel’s porch. The structure rocked like a ship at sea when the wind blew, partially explaining why the treacherous weather and difficult upkeep led to the grand hotel’s demise.