On May 25, 2012 Rocky Face Mountain Recreational Area opened to the public. The park project was made possible by a $477,000 grant from the NC Parks and Recreation Trust Fund. In addition, to assist with the grant, the land was donated to the county by the Carolina Land and Lakes Resource Conservation and Development District. Additional assistance related to the land donation and to acquiring additional land was provided by the Felbourn Foundation.
Today, the former rock quarry area includes a paved ADA walking track as well as picnic shelter, restrooms, and park office. The quarry area features a sheer cliff face which is attractive for qualified rock climbers. The park now has over 50 climbing routes.
Outside the quarry area, the park includes hiking trails of approximately six miles which will take hikers along the top of the quarry cliffs and to the mountain peak. The trail will also include various markers depicting some of the rare plants which are located at the park.
A very popular trail at the park is the Vertical Mile Challenge trail. The trail is approximately a 2 mile loop beginning and ending at the bottom of the rock face directly behind the parking lot at Rocky Face Recreation Area. It is paved for a bit and then becomes typical single-track trail and after approximately 1/2 mile begins the 500 feet climb up the face of the mountain. Completing the loop eight times is about 17 miles and a vertical mile up and a vertical mile down. Folks can sign up for the VMC Challenge, a challenge where participants can do 8 loops of the VMC trail and receive a free t-shirt. Once completing the 8 loops, participants may sign up for the five-mile challenge (40 loops),the 10 mile challenge (80 loops),and the 100 loop challenge. To date there are over 2,000 people who have finished or are in the process of doing a challenge.
Visitor sign-in records show that approximately 100,000 visitors have visited the park since it opened in 2012.
For more information about the park, please visit rockyfacepark.com