The Chimney Tops are a pair of bare rock spires on a ridge above Newfound Gap Road, capped by the Anakeesta Formation. James Mooney recorded a Cherokee name for a double peak called the Chimney Tops, Duniskwalgunyi, forked antler, though he placed that peak on the North Carolina side, so it may not be this one. A 2016 wildfire began in this area, and the trail beyond its gate remains closed because the burned slopes erode easily. The open trail runs 3.5 miles round trip from the trailhead near The Loop to an overlook, with steep inclines and stone stairs, and the park warns of heavy crowding and limited parking there. In early June, Catawba rhododendron blooms on the slopes above it. This roadside pullout offers a view of the spires without the hike.
Quick now, the Chimney Tops pullout is just ahead on your right. Pull in if you can. It's the way to see them without the trailhead crowd. Find the two bare points of rock on the ridge. They're capped by the Anakeesta Formation, the same rock that shows in the road cuts near Newfound Gap. James Mooney, whose book of Cherokee stories came out in nineteen hundred, recorded a Cherokee name for a double peak he called the Chimney Tops. Duniskwalgunyi. Forked antler. And there's a detail inside that word most people never hear. It means an antler still attached, as though the deer itself were hidden below the ground. He placed his double peak on the Carolina side, about the head of Deep Creek, so it may not be this pair at all. Now, should you hike it? The trail starts at the Chimney Tops Trailhead, beside The Loop, a mile and a half on from this pullout. It's three and a half miles round trip to an overlook, steep in places, with bridges early on and stone stairs, and the park rates the trail moderate to strenuous. It also warns of extreme crowding and limited parking, and suggests a shuttle. You won't reach the summit. In November of twenty sixteen, a wildfire started up there. The burned slopes are still prone to erosion, so the trail past the gate stays closed. Read the sign, and turn back at the gate. Come back in the first half of June and the slopes above the trailhead light up with Catawba rhododendron.
Photo: Thomson200, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons · CC0