Rocky Face Mountain Recreational Area has a rich history dating back to the early 1900’s. The site was a former quarry ope ration which began in 1922 and operations ceased in the early 1940’s.A prison camp was located nearby and a railroad reached the old quarry site. There have also been agricultural land uses such as apples, peaches, wheat and grapes near the site.
The property covers approximately 318 acres within the Brushy Mountain range, located in Alexander County, North Carolina. Rocky Face is a dome shaped mass of granite gneiss with a maximum elevation of 1795 feet above sea level. There are actually two summits on the mountain separated by a ridge and saddle. The summit is approximately 600 feet above the surrounding terrain. The terrain is steep and rocky and the overall outline of the mountain lies in a northeast to southwest orientation with long sloping steep slopes on each end. The north face is steeper and more vegetated while the south face has seen quarry activity.
A survey conducted by the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program in 2002 found significant communities of plants and wildlife. According to the survey:
• Rocky Face Mountain with its extensive exposures of granitic gneiss and areas of shallow soil contains examples of rare natural community types, including Low Elevation Granitic Dome and Montane Red Cedar-Hardwood Woodland, along with good examples of the uncommon Piedmont Monadnock Forest type.
• Rocky Face contains a number of rare species associated with rock outcrops and forest and woodlands. These include Keever’s bristle moss which is considered endangered by the state and most of its world population is in the Brushy Mountains. Also included are striped garlic, shinyleaf meadow-sweet, cofaqui giant skipper and giant swallowtail.
• Rocky Face Mountain is considered to be a monadnock which is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. Because the mountain is dome-shaped and formed from granite-gneiss, it can also be called a bornhardt.
Rocky Face Mountain provides an ideal habitat for a variety of wildlife including squirrels, rabbits, rodents and a variety of snakes and birds. Two rare animals both butterflies are known to Rocky Face. Cofaqui giant skipper feeds on yuccas that are abundant in the wooded areas. The Giant swallowtail feeds on the hop-tree. Both of these species are very rare in North Carolina and are currently listed on the NC Natural Heritage Programs list of significant animal species. In 2003, the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program signed an agreement that put Rocky Face Mountain on the North Carolina Registry of Natural Heritage Areas because of its unique qualities.
To log this cache, please send a message with the answers to the following questions:
1. Looking around at ground zero, does this earthcache site exhibit the characteristics more typical of a "bornhardt" or a "monadnock?" Why?
2. What do you think causes the black streaks on the rock face at ground zero?
3. Log photo from ground zero. (optional)
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