Interpretive Center will be boost for Roan Mountain State Park

Photo by Dave Boyd The Rhododendron Gardens atop Roan Mountain are the big summer drawing card for the park. The gardens will be featured in one of the displays being designed for the new Interpretive Center, which will be located in the park's Visitors Center.

By Rozella Hardin
STAR STAFF
rhardin@starhq.com

   Roan Mountain State Park, one of the most visited parks in the Tennessee State Park System, is also one of the most beautiful parks in the state.
   One of two state parks, located in Carter County, the Roan Mountain State Park is home to the biggest natural rhododendron garden in the world. To add to its beauty, 10 miles of Grassy Balds, the longest anywhere in the world, stretch from Carver's Gap on The Roan north to Big Hump Mountain.
   The park contains 2,006 acres nestled in the foot slopes of Roan Mountain. High mountain peaks, such as The Roan, with an elevation of 6,285 feet, form a backdrop to the park. In June, the Catawba Rhododendron, with its crimson red flowers, grace the mountain tops.
   On of the park's biggest draws is its camping facilities and cabins. All of the park's 107 family campsites have a grill and picnic tables and are located near a bathhouse and hot showers. The campground has 87 RV sites with water and electric hookups and 20 tent sites.
   Thirty cabins are situated in the woods of the Roan Mountain State Park. "The park is one of the top cabin destinations in the state when it comes to state parks," said Herb Roberts, Area Manager for East Tennessee State Parks. "People like that style of cabin."
   Each cabin has a front porch with rocking chairs, fully outfitted kitchen, full bath with tub/shower, wood burning stove and gas/electric heat. Firewood, bedding and towels are provided by the park.
   However, Roberts said the biggest project this year at Roan Mountain State Park is the new Interpretive Center display, which will be located in the park's Visitors Center. Ranger Pat Gagan said the design for the Interpretive Center is complete. Imagen Corporation in Nashville is currently building the displays, which will be installed this month, with a completion date set for sometime in April or May.
   According to Gagan, the interactive interpretive center will highlight not only the natural history but the cultural history of the Roan Mountain region.
   "It will cover everything from the geological history and minerals dating back to the Ice Age and climate changes. We're going to touch on the fossil discoveries in Gray and their relationship to the balds upon the Roan," Gagan said.
   Some scientists believe a correlation exists between the balds and the presence of large animals that grazed them back in prehistoric days.
   "We really don't know what caused the balds. There are some scientists who believe there were vegetarian mammoths that cleared the balds and then kept them cleared for centuries," he said.
   "We're going to talk about the fossil discoveries and the three major habitats within the Roan Mountain region, from the very top -- the alpine region -- through the deciduous forest, down to the Doe River. We're going to have a display of the Rhododendron Gardens and tell some of the specific rare and endangered species that are indigenous to the Roan region, such as the Gray's lily."
   The museum display also will focus on use of the area's natural resources and show human activity in the area starting with the Native Americans and the Overmountain Men, who literally marched through what is now the state park on their way to King's Mountain, S.C., in 1780, Gagan said.
   A display featuring the Tweetsie Railroad and telling about its importance in developing the tourism industry in this area also is planned. "It was thriving, actually, at the end of the century with Gen. John Wilder's Cloudland Hotel at the top of the Roan," Gagan said.
   "We have a bed and we have some dishes, a menu, some bowls and vases that were in the Cloudland Hotel that will be on display. We've got a number of photographs that were taken of families that spent their vacation time up there," he said.
   The museum also will include exhibits from the lumber and iron ore industries. "There were mines all around this area. Iron ore was carried from Cranberry, N.C., to the foundry in Johnson City. So, we're going to have the history of mining, logging, the Cloudland Hotel and Gen. Wilder, a very influential industrialist after the Civil War. It's a wide-ranging display."
   A panel of the display will also address scientists who have visited The Roan.
   "It ought to be a fabulous display," said Gagan. "It has been in the works for some time."
   The new interpretive center display will be located where the park museum was at the water wheel site. New lighting and a platform have been installed, as well as wall space expanded for the display.
   The center will also include an aquarium with trout.
   About 30 miles of the park acreage are hiking trails and bike trails. The park also has lighted basketball courts, tennis courts and volleyball courts. There are also playgrounds for children.
   Summer in the park would not be complete without the sound of bluegrass and Appalachian mountain music flowing from the Miller Farmstead. A number of summer programs are planned, in addition to the annual Spring Naturalists Rally May 7-9; the Roan Mountain Jr. Trout Tournament, May 8; the Rhododendron Festival, June 19-20; and an Independence Day Celebration, July 4. Other events are planned throughout the summer and fall. But, the big draw during the summer months is the camping and beautiful Rhododendron bloom.