Scenic Site Sparks Border Dispute: S.C., N.C. Bicker Over Public Access to Crossroads
By Sammy Fretwell, The State, Columbia, S.C.
Jan. 2–CROSSROADS MOUNTAIN — After a bumpy drive through the North Carolina mountains, wildlife biologist Mark Hall parked his truck at the source of an interstate border feud he cannot resolve.
Crossroads Mountain, just inside the South Carolina line, rises like a natural viewing stand in the S.C.-owned Jocassee Gorges nature preserve. Its overlook of Lake Jocassee and nearby peaks is unparalleled in Hall’s view.
But the only way to reach Crossroads Mountain by land is through North Carolina — and the Carolinas can’t agree on a plan for public access.
The dispute surfaced this year after Hall found a legal document allowing the public access through North Carolina to Jocassee Gorges in South Carolina. The question is which dirt road — if any — is suited for public use.
Hall, a biologist with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, said the states need to work out their differences so the public can see Crossroads Mountain.
It lies in the most remote section of the Jocassee Gorges mountain refuge, more than 33,000 acres in Oconee and Pickens counties. Crossroads Mountain is part of a 1,000-acre peninsula that juts into Lake Jocassee from North Carolina.
“People would say, ‘My God, I didn’t know wild places existed like this in our state,’” Hall said as he nodded at Lake Jocassee more than 1,500 feet below.
N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation officials say opening a dirt road to the public could hurt the fragile environment of Gorges State Park, their own state preserve.
The park, a 7,100-acre recreation area with 14 waterfalls, has thriving populations of black bears, wild turkeys and trout. It also harbors North Carolina’s largest population of green salamanders and more than 100 other rare species.
A steady stream of cars through the park could pollute mountain rivers with motor oil and silt, said Steve Pagano, who manages the park.
The access road favored by South Carolina, the Auger Hole Trail, is a limited-access path used by only 20 to 30 hunters each year. It fords shallow sections of three North Carolina rivers through Gorges State Park. Among those is the Toxaway, which flows into Lake Jocassee in South Carolina.
“I’m concerned about the use we have on the road now,” Pagano said.
If people want access to Crossroads Mountain, they can hike rather than drive, said Bill Thomas, a former head of the Sierra Club in North Carolina.
“I am really in favor of keeping some places hard to access,” he said.
Hall, who lives in North Carolina, said his agency will not allow any access road to become a muddy freeway. The S.C. Department of Natural Resources likely would close any road through North Carolina to vehicles during the winter and summer to limit environmental impact from heavy rains, he said.
South Carolina’s push for access to Crossroads Mountain is tied to its own plan to develop primitive campsites there. The easiest way for people to reach the land with camping gear is by car, he said.
“The fact is, hardly anybody is going back there if they have to walk,” Hall said.
S.C. TRUMP CARD
North Carolina’s concerns might not matter if South Carolina continues demanding access to the Jocassee Gorges.
In 1998, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources acquired an easement — a legal right of entry — from Duke Energy Corp. to the Jocassee Gorges through North Carolina. The state’s acquisition came before North Carolina bought land surrounding the easement from Duke.
S.C.’s easement, known as Chestnut Mountain Road, is a steep trail through a part of Gorges State Park that North Carolina wants for campsites, trails and a visitors center. North Carolina’s parks department plans to spend about $7 million on permanent campgrounds and amenities, Pagano said. He said North Carolina did not realize the easement existed when it bought land for Gorges State Park in 1999.
“I’ve been here seven years since the beginning of this park and didn’t know anything about it,” he said. “We just have to figure this out now.”
To avoid conflicts with campers in Gorges State Park, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources will give up the Chestnut Mountain Road easement — if it can have public access to Jocassee on the Auger Hole Trail, Hall said.
“I could go on up there with a bulldozer and push their gates down and go on in,” Hall said of Chestnut Mountain Road. “But I don’t want to do that.”
North Carolina parks officials want South Carolina to use a third dirt road that doesn’t run through Gorges State Park.
The road, which does not ford rivers, also would be used by North Carolina hunters to access Tarheel game lands outside the park.
Hall said that road runs through private land, is steep and winding, and is in such bad shape it would take extensive studies and money to open.
JOCASSEE JEWEL
Hall and Pagano agree on one thing: The land on both sides of the state line is beautiful and important.
On a drive to Crossroads Mountain in December, Hall nodded at Table Mountain pine trees towering high along the state line.
The bigger cones they produce contain spikes that curl up like long fingernails. It’s a tree most people never get a chance to see in South Carolina, Hall said.
He also pointed out the hardwoods and wild berry bushes that attract and shelter wildlife on Jocassee.
Along one slope, he even saw signs of an old mountain spring.
Eventually, Hall wants South Carolina to burn some of the less important forest species and replace them with chestnuts, majestic trees that died out in the 20th century from disease. Scientists are developing a disease-resistant strain, and Crossroads Mountain would be an ideal place to plant them, Hall said.
From Crossroads Mountain, Hall pointed out a flat section of Lake Jocassee in what was once known as the Horsepasture, a part of a valley where American Indians and early settlers kept livestock.
“These are views you won’t find anywhere else,” he said.
Reach Fretwell at (803) 771-8537.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The State, Columbia, S.C.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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