The Legend of the Blowing Rock

In North Carolina there is a mountain called the Blowing Rock. It is unique in the world in that it is the only location where you can watch the snow falling up! It's true-- because of the shape and size of Blowing Rock, located over Johns River Gorge, when the wind blows through it is whipped straight upward, often sending lightweight objects up over the mountain.

Blowing Rock was once disputed territory between the Cherokee and Catawba Indians. A man from one tribe and a woman from the other were married. One day while they were walking together over Blowing Rock, the husband received a summons to battle. His wife begged him to stay with her. Torn between his duties to his tribe and to his wife, the husband jumped over the edge of the mountain. The wife fell to her knees and prayed to the Great Spirit to save her husband and return him to her. After she prayed, a great gust of wind caught him and carried him upward into the sky where he floated gently down into his lover's arms.

Today if you travel through the Blowing Rock area, you can see a large billboard picturing this romantic tale: a man floating down from the sky, and a woman receiving him with outstretched arms.