North End Open AND No Longer Subject to Automatic Closure
Yes, the North End at Moore's is open. There may be a few signs hanging about that say that it is still closed, but we can ignore these.
In addition, and more importantly, because peregrines have not nested at Moore's home for quite a few years, the park has decided there will be no need for an automatic seasonal closure. The return of nesting peregrines will likely mean a return to seasonal closures, and so the park system has asked us to keep an eye out for peregrines at Moore's.
Are you too shocked to believe you eyes? Well, here it is straight from the horse's mouth, or in this case, straight from an email I received from Matt Haynes of Hanging Rock State Park:
2012 Peregrine Falcon Closures
It's that time of year again - the seasonal Peregrine Falcon closure go into effect January 15th, 2012. The attached document has all the details, but here's the highlights of the affected areas:
USFS Peregrine closures lifted
The Forest Service has lifted the closures on Whiteside, Looking Glass, Victory Wall, Shortoff, NC Wall and Big Lost Cove Cliff. The only Peregrine closure still in effect is for White Rock Cliff. Please note that there may be fledged chicks and adult Peregrines in some of these areas and they may fly or dive at climbers, so keep an eye to the sky for more than just thunderstorms if you're on a route at one of these cliffs.
2011 Peregrine Closures
This year's closure went into effect Saturday, January 15, 2011 and will expire on or before August 15, 2011. Closures are in effect even if there are no signs posted in the areas outlined listed. Please respect all closures and help us keep these areas open in the long term.
Doughton Park Ice Climbing Closed for 2010 Ice Season
The National Park Service has imposed a temporary closure for the ice climbing at Doughton Park for the 2010 season. The Park Service is doing a guardrail construction project and needs to close the area for construction purposes. As more infromation is available we will post it.
Shortoff closure lifted
(Ed: this post is from June 2010; the 2011 closure period remains in effect. See details in post above) All of the climbing routes on Shortoff are now open. The US Forest Service has lifted the seasonal closure for peregrine falcon nesting. Closures at Looking Glass, Whitesides, Big Lost cove and NC Wall remain in effect.
Seasonal closure lifted at Moore's Wall: North End of open for climbing
The seasonal closure at Moore's Wall for the nesting of peregrine falcons has been lifted. As of Saturday, May 1, 2010, the closure signs were removed from the climbers' kiosk and the the North End trail. The park ranger removing the trail sign stated that the peregrines did not show up this year. Please be aware that there is some deadfall across the trail.
Updated Whitesides Peregrine Closure Info
ASHEVILLE, NC -- In response to a new nesting location of the resident pair of endangered peregrine falcons, Forest Service is changing the annual climbing closure at Whiteside Mountain from the west to the east side of the cliff, effective March 22 thru August 15, 2010. Specifically, the cliff face east of the “Mainline” climbing route is closed to climbing and rappelling this year. When facing the cliff, east is to the right.
2010 Peregrine Closure Notices
Updated Peregrine Falcon closures for U.S. Forest Service properties in North Carolina. Please respect all closures! Disturbing the birds can actually cause them to re-nest and actually extend the closure beyond what it would have been if they were able to successfully nest the first time.
Sauratown
As the Sauratown season approaches, we know many of you are interested
in an update on the status of this closure.
Historically, Sauratown climbers have been accessing the cliffs and using a
parking lot that belongs to a property owner, who at this time, wishes to not
be named publicly. The fire that occurred in 2007 helped raise the issues of
liability. Access is currently closed to climbers to mitigate concerns of
liability held by the landowner in the event of an accident that occurs while
public is on their property. As it is private land, we must respect their
wishes.