The Allure of Lake Lure (4/11/23)

Bob and I took advantage of a beautiful day to visit the small resort community of Lake Lure, NC, about 42 miles northwest of Boiling Springs. It is known for its lake and its flowering bridge, and it was the location of some of the scenes in the movies, ‘Dirty Dancing’ and ‘The Last of the Mohicans.’

The lake itself was created by damming the Rocky Broad River. The dam was completed in 1925 and the lake was fully created in 1927. At ordinary levels, Lake Lure covers approximately 720 acres and has a shoreline of approximately 27 miles. The dam is also used to provide electricity for Duke Power Company.

The lake, however, is not currently at ordinary levels, as the lake was lowered in January for the completion of a number of infrastructure projects and has only recently started to be refilled (per a sign we saw at the Visitor’s Center not from information on their website).

We began our visit at the Visitor’s Center which is conveniently located between the town center and the Flowering Bridge and is also where you would catch the boat for a boat tour when those are running.

From the Welcome Center, we walked to the Flowering Bridge. Completed in 2013, the bridge was created on the site of an old bridge that once connected Lake Lure to Chimney Rock. It is now a pedestrian bridge only, that has been redesigned for gardens as well as garden art and is certified as a Monarch Waystation and is part of the Rosalyn Carter Butterfly Trail. It’s a lovely area to walk through or sit and chill. We really liked the dog/pet section and the painted ‘books’ throughout the gardens.

Finally, while we were in Lake Lure we checked out a couple of inns that were written up.