Judaculla Rock

After visiting my family in Virginia over the Easter weekend, I did some extra traveling before returning to Maryland.  One place I wanted to visit was Judaculla Rock, an outcropping of soapstone inscribed with numerous petroglyphs, located in western North Carolina near Cullowhee.  The site is still sacred to the Cherokee.  Their folklore describes Judaculla as a "slant-eyed giant" with seven fingers on each hand, who could jump from one mountain to another.  As one story goes, when he steadied himself while landing on this rock, his seven-fingered hand carved one of the petroglyphs.

To find out more, go to JudacullaRock(dot)com, North Carolina Ghost Stories And Legends, Appalachian History, Atlas Obscura and North Carolina History Project.

The site is located near the end of a short country road.  This roadside sign stands at the start of a gravel walkway which leads down toward the rock.

The walkway leads to a wooden platform, from which the main face of the rock may be viewed.

Here's one view of the rock.

Here's another view, from a different angle.

Behind the viewing platform, the walkway continued downhill, but led to a metal gate with a "no trespassing" sign.  I retreated uphill to the road and drove away.  After finding a place to park myself for the night, I started planning my course to another place I wanted to see, which is even further south.  This other destination, of course, will be the subject of a post in the near future.