Bald Rock Heritage Preserve — Attraction in Brevard

Beware but beautiful! I was getting some good mommy daughter time with my daughter who is 19! We found this place only by stopping 2stretch our legs. When we first walked out, the view is breathtaking almost unreal. There were other curious guest among us so I felt safe for us to walk around. My daughter was going nuts over the angles and formations of the rock. I of course am always in mama bear mode.... watching and investigating each guest that walked around as we did.... there was a young mother with her 4 or 5 year old sons having a picnic, a couple in their 60’s, a female photographer with 2 models..after about 30 mins my daughter wanted me to take the perfect shot for social media. This taking a bit she sat down w/ the horizon right in front her but in this nook so I wasn’t worried about her falling. The mother & kids left,most guest walked carefully among the rock bc if you trip you are rolling or falling straight down. As I am sitting like 3 feet above my daughter, we both noticed this young white man walk to the edge like it was nothing, though highly dangerous. That alarmed me immediately, my daughter turned back & said “wow that’s impressive, he’s like a mountain goat.” I got chill bumps as I glanced around it was only us now & him... the older couple was almost to their car. He turned around with his heals hanging a bit off the edge... my daughter not thinking there’s any danger she kept shouting out instructions for her perfect inst shot. She reached & took her phone & started to make her way further down the rock as I took my phone out to stay busy all the while the guy was watching us mostly her. He walked by me and said, “got to be like a mountain goat to survive around here.“ No doubt he saw my daughters enthusiasm for this beautiful place... she liked the graffiti. As he walked away slowly shouting to my daughter... there’s hundreds of abandoned cars down there... she of course freaked & I was like no no no we can’t go to the other place if we stay any longer here. I walked closer to the car in the middle of the rock where I could see her and see him... as I looked closer through the trees he was looking in around our car. I screamed loudly “come on let’s go now!” Luckily, he heard me & so did she.... he got in his loud, loud beat up red truck. I showed & explained to my daughter what was happening... I knew we needed to check our tires. Thankfully, another guest arrived in the parking lot as we made our way to our car, his loud truck backed out & went up the road as he eye balled my daughter. She of course said “Mom you are over reacting!” She said “now if he is waiting on us some where then I will be scared...” the place we were going to hike was further up the mountain. Let me point out, I am from SC & the sound of loud jacked up trucks isn’t foreign to me. But, the vibes were freaking me out ... as sure as we made it around the first corner he was on a little pull over place on the side of the road on a mountain. I freaked as the place we were going wasn’t just a few miles away, she floored it... he followed for a while & disappeared. We stopped at Ceaser’s Head & I was terrified but, she said we have to check this out too. So we did but, I was like I don’t think we should hike I knew she would be bummed... she begged let’s go please Mom... so she talked me into it & we parked at a much larger parking lot which seemed very busy. Hikers were coming & going.... & we got out, it was after lunch, I said there’s not a ton of time before dark... we don’t need to do this. As we started down the path across the road, I heard the truck & she was like no way it’s the same truck. I said, yes it is & it slowly drove through the parking lot & left, then another truck came by watching... I was like I’m sorry but everything in me says to leave.... the way he stood on the edge of the mountain like it was nothing, he was clearly from here..... he told us about thousands of abandoned cars, he knows the trail ....Wrong Turn, watch it... we left. The town was empty, no police near by. Beware of your...

Parking and access to this site changed this Spring, 2025. Bring your camera and leave your spray paint at home.

The old roadside (Hwy 276) parking area is now closed. Proceed North towards Caesar's Head roughly 3/4ths of a mile. Turn onto Persimmon Ridge Rd. Go another 1/2 mile or so and enter the new, dedicated parking area with 20 parking spaces. From the parking area, Bald Rock proper is a roughly 1/2 mile hike down a very wide trail. The trail is well marked, for now. There are a couple of elevation changes so you will see a variety of flora.

A bit of warning, once you are on Persimmon Ridge Road, slow down. The road is unpaved and there are several places with washboard divots in the roadway. Sometimes they are very deep so don't be caught off guard as you might damage your vehicle if you hit them traveling too fast.

On thing I found particularly interesting are the vegetative "islands" in the solid and inhospitable rockface at the top of Bald Rock. Nature does...

Best/Coolest Overlook I have been to! Definitely a worthwhile stop while in the area, the view is impressive. Can see Table Rock mountain which is southwest of the Bald Rock Heritage Preserve (if you're on the rock enjoying the view, look to the right). The rock is covered w graffiti but that kinda added to the "cool" factor of the place. The views, no matter where you stand on the rock, are incredible. Being that we visited in the Fall, the foliage colors provided beautiful setting. There are no facilities here and it is not a hiking destination but to experience walking on this humongous rock and soaking in the views, it's a very worthwhile stop when in the area. I'm told you can walk all the way to the base but I didn't feel like climbing back up this day, probably do that on my...