CHIMNEY ROCK, N.C. — The summer travel season brings thousands of visitors to Rutherford County's Chimney Rock Park to ride the elevator to the top of the namesake rock, hike the cliff trails, and take in spectacular views of nearby Lake Lure and the Blue Ridge escarpment.

This June, parkgoers also have a rare chance to catch a glimpse of the once-endangered peregrine falcon in the wild.

BOB DOWNING/Akron [Ohio] Beacon Journal (ENLARGE)
Chimney Rock Park, a popular tourist destination, is home to one of just 10 breeding pairs of peregrine falcons known to be living in western North Carolina.
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IF YOU GO Getting there • Chimney Rock is about 210 miles from downtown Atlanta, a three- to four-hour drive. Take I-85 North into South Carolina. In the Greenville, S.C., area, exit onto I-185, and go one exit to Exit 1 (White Horse Road and U.S. 25). Turn left onto U.S. 25 North and follow it about one hour into North Carolina. Follow signs to I-26 West and Asheville and get on I-26 West. At Exit 49A (Bat Cave and U.S. 64 East) get off and turn right onto U.S. 64 East. Go 15 miles and the park entrance will be on the right. About the park • Chimney Rock Park, on U.S. 74A about 25 miles southeast of Asheville. , 1-800-277-9611. Open daily, weather permitting, except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Admission: adults, $14; children 6-15, $6; ages 5 and under, free. Leashed pets are allowed in the park.

A pair of falcons have built their nest on a cliff overlooking the Chimney Rock and have been seen repeatedly this spring hunting in the air above the 2,280-foot rock.

"They're so fast! They handle the air so well," said birder Reece Mitchell of Hendersonville, who has spent hours tracking the peregrine pair in recent weeks. "I've been doing this 13 years, and I still stand there with my mouth just open."

Peregrines are fierce predators who perch atop their food chain; when diving through the air for prey, they can reach speeds of 200 mph, making them the fastest animals on earth.

Mitchell recalled watching last month as the male peregrine who is nesting near Chimney Rock swooped over the top of a nearby cliff and snatched a starling out of a flock. Within seconds, he said, the hunter had beheaded its prey, stripped it of its feathers and brought it back to the nest for the female. While she eats, Mitchell said, the male watches over the chicks.

Chris McGrath, regional faunal diversity supervisor for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, said the peregrine pair now nesting near Chimney Rock is one of just 10 breeding pairs in western North Carolina that are known to state wildlife officials.

Other peregrine couples nest at Devil's Courthouse, off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Nantahala National Forest, at Grandfather Mountain near Banner Elk, and at Whiteside Mountain in Macon County.

But nowhere are members of the general public as likely to have a shot at seeing the peregrines in the wild as they are over the next couple of weeks at Chimney Rock. By the end of June, any chicks that survive this year's breeding season are likely to have left the nest — and with them will go the parents.

Peregrines were nearly driven to extinction in the mid-1960s by widespread use of the pesticide DDT. The chemical, used to fight mosquitoes in the years after World War II, does not break down easily and worked its way up the food chain, with the result that the shells of eggs laid by birds who ingested DDT-contaminated prey became brittle and easily broken. Before DDT was banned in the United States in 1973, predatory bird populations plummeted, and many species were near extinction.

In 1984, the state began releasing peregrine chicks bred in captivity into the wild in western North Carolina. Within two years, a pair was breeding in the wild — a process essential to establishing and expanding the population — and by 1990 there were eight known breeding pairs, McGrath said.

After those numbers declined to four breeding pairs by 1995, the state released more chicks in 1996 and 1997. In every year since 2000, state observers have monitored at least 10 breeding pairs in the west.

Breeding in the wild is a tough business. Eggs can be stolen from the nest or damaged by bad weather. Until they leave the nest, chicks are highly vulnerable to the elements and other predators and even once they're out of the nest, many fledglings remain vulnerable while they learn to fly, hunt and avoid dangers like power lines.

Peregrines are primarily cliff dwellers, which makes the sheer rock faces of the Blue Ridge escarpment an ideal habitat, Mitchell said.

Both he and McGrath caution that anyone hoping to mix some peregrine-watching with a trip to Chimney Rock should be prepared to be patient.

"It's not uncommon to spend four hours staring at a cliff and see a bird for 10 seconds," McGrath said.

Mitchell, who is 74 and retired, has gotten up-close views of the peregrines in the air from Chimney Rock Park's Pulpit Rock and Rock Pile — both sites that are almost directly below where the peregrines are nesting.

Mitchell said the best times of day to look for the peregrines — who have distinctive dark heads with a single "sideburn" along each side of the face — are early morning and late afternoon or early evening, when they tend to hunt.

Females are a bit bigger than a crow; males — or tiercels — are about a third smaller than the female.

In addition to the spots recommended by Mitchell, the open space atop Chimney Rock offers an ideal perch to watch — and listen — for the birds. Mitchell said the granite cliffs provide excellent acoustics for hearing the high-pitched wails of the talkative peregrines.

Even if you don't spot a peregrine, privately owned Chimney Rock offers plenty of scenic beauty with its dramatic cliffs, wide vistas and 404-foot-high Hickory Nut Falls.

Visitors can hike a stairway from the main parking area to the top of Chimney Rock, continuing from there along several miles of trails that stretch out along the cliffs. The Skyline Trail runs from Chimney Rock, over Exclamation Point to Peregrine's Rest and the top of the falls.

Or, you can take the easy route, into a naturally air-conditioned, 198-foot tunnel that leads to a 26-story elevator ride through solid granite, to a souvenir shop atop a cliff that adjoins Chimney Rock.