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#06-316 November 20, 2006

North Carolina access route to Jocassee Gorges identified

South Carolina officials recently discovered an easement through North Carolina to Jocassee Gorges lands that may provide management and recreational access to lands that had previously been nearly inaccessible.

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR) staff sifted through documents and searched the legal records in Transylvania County, N.C., to confirm the easement findings. South Carolina DNR holds a deeded easement that permits access from N.C. Highway 281, at the current parking lot for the North Carolina Gorges State Park. The route proceeds south on Chestnut Mountain Road, to a landmark known as Turkey Pen Gap, then it winds east through lands owned by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, then southeast across the North Carolina/South Carolina state line and into either the Crossroads Mountain or the Musterground portion of Jocassee.

Mark Hall, DNR’s Jocassee Gorges manager, studied the North Carolina access route with NorthJocassee Gorges Carolina Gorges State Park Superintendent Steve Pagano. Pagano pointed out that South Carolina’s access route would go right through the middle of Gorges State Park’s planned $7 million development of the Grassy Ridge area in North Carolina. Pagano was surprised to learn of the easement. Hall indicated that it would be preferable to avoid the state park development on Grassy Ridge and use an alternate access route via the historical Auger Hole Road. The Auger Hole road would provide good access for heavy equipment, hemlock protection crews, prescribed burning crews as well as anglers, birdwatchers, campers, hikers, hunters, and other recreational users. South Carolina DNR developed a plan to give up the easement through Grassy Ridge, in exchange for an easement on the Auger Hole Road.

South Carolina DNR Director John E. Frampton recently discussed the matter with William Ross, director of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and they agreed that South Carolina DNR, North Carolina State Parks and North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission should work out details for access that would satisfy all parties involved.
           
In the interim, Gorges State Parks in North Carolina has agreed to allow hunters (as currently allowed by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission) to access the South Carolina Jocassee Gorges lands by traveling via the Auger Hole Road. The Auger Hole Road is gated and requires a key, which can be checked out at the Gorges State Park headquarters in Sapphire, N.C., telephone (828) 966-9099.

In the near future, South Carolina DNR will work with the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources to hammer out a win-win solution for access and road maintenance in the area, Hall said.

Waterfalls, green salamanders, black bear, rare plants such as Oconee bells and many long-range vistas are just a few of the natural wonders that may be found in the Jocassee Gorges in Pickens and Oconee counties. More information on Jocassee Gorges may be obtained by calling the Clemson DNR office at (864) 654-1671, extension 22.
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