Three state parks remain closed after Helene, including Chimney Rock

Access to the Chimney Rock attraction is also closed to the public until further notice due to the bridge outage and other damages.

Three North Carolina State Parks remain closed since the devastation of Hurricane Helene, just over three months ago on Sept. 27, 2024, including Chimney Rock State Park.

Chimney Rock State Park remains closed because the bridge that brings visitors into the park was destroyed by Helene and has to be rebuilt. The bridge was over the Rocky Broad River and during the historic storm, the bridge was washed down the river.

After Helene flooded Western North Carolina, the state closed all 13 of its parks west of Interstate 77. Most of them have reopened except for the three mentioned.

There is no estimated time when the three parks will be able to accept visitors.

Chimney Rock State Park (8,000 acres) with 412,684 visitors in 2021, had a 34 percent increase over the 308,145 visitors in 2020, beating its previous record set in 2019 of 333,128, according to statistics listed on the website. The year 2023 was record setting for visitors.

Access to the Chimney Rock attraction is also closed to the public until further notice due to the bridge outage and other damages.

Five NC State parks damaged by Hurricane Helene reopened Nov. 1 at least partially while others - Grandfather Mountain, Gorges, Crowders Mountain, Lake Norman and Rendezvous Mountain opened later in the month. Many of the parks still have some facilities or trails that are not ready for visitors and people are encouraged to check an individual park's website for the latest information.