Blowing Rock is a rocky outcropping at the town of Blowing Rock, North Carolina, above a gorge in Caldwell County, in the northwest of that state.
The prevailing wind blows through the gorge toward Blowing Rock. There, at the end of the gorge, the wind's path of least resistance is up the steep slopes surmounted by the outcropping, resulting in a nearly vertical and typically strong wind.
The legend of the Blowing Rock is that a Cherokee brave leapt from the rock into the wilderness below, only to have a gust of wind return him back to his lover on top of the rock.
Blowing Rock is private property; a fee for access is payable at the adjacent souvenir shop.
The 2008 feature film Goodbye Solo features Blowing Rock in its concluding scene.
Famous quotes containing the words blowing and/or rock:
“Many Americans imagine simpler times even as a storm of social change swirls about, blowing parents here and children there. Sure, the 1950s ideal world would be wonderful. But knock on the nation’s doors: Ozzie and Harriet are seldom at home.”
—Leslie Dreyfous (20th century)
“What a long strange trip it’s been.”
—Robert Hunter, U.S. rock lyricist. “Truckin’,” on the Grateful Dead album American Beauty (1971)