Table Rock is a mountain in the east rim of Linville Gorge, part of Pisgah National Forest

Pisgah National Forest

Pisgah National Forest is a National Forest in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. It is administered by the United States Forest Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. The Pisgah National Forest is completely contained within the state of North Carolina...

 (Grandfather Ranger District). It features a unique rock formation, and is a prominent peak in the area.

The peak makes for a quick hike from a nearby parking area, and is also very popular for rock climbing

Rock climbing

Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...

. It is described as having a "national reputation of being the best place to climb in the Southeastern U.S.", and the "hub of climbing activity in Linville Gorge".

Table Rock is also known for its flora

Flora

Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...

. Botanists André Michaux

André Michaux

André Michaux was a French botanist and explorer.-Biography:Michaux was born in Satory, now part of Versailles, Yvelines. After the death of his wife within a year of their marriage he took up the study of botany and was a student of Bernard de Jussieu...

 and John Fraser

John Fraser (botanist)

John Fraser was a Scottish botanist, born at Tomnacross, the Aird, Inverness-shire. He moved to London, where he started work as a draper working with linen, but then, together with his son, took up botanical collecting, sending his collections to his plant nursery in London and to other clients,...

 found various plants in the area in the nineteenth century. Fraser discovered Fraser's Sedge near the mountain.

Table Rock has been described as "the most visible symbol in the region". Former North Carolina senator Sam Ervin

Sam Ervin

Samuel James "Sam" Ervin Jr. was a Democratic Senator from North Carolina from 1954 until 1974. A native of Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina, he liked to call himself a "country lawyer", and often told humorous stories in his Southern drawl...

 said that he retired to the nearby town of Morganton

Morganton, North Carolina

Morganton is a city in Burke County, North Carolina, United States. Reader's Digest included Morganton in its list of top ten places to raise a family. The town was recently profiled in The 50 Best Small Southern Towns. The population was 17,310 at the 2000 census...

 to "watch the glorious sunsets over Table Rock". In addition, Jules Verne

Jules Verne

Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...

's novel Master of the World describes Table Rock as "rising high above the valley to sometimes belch strange sounds and fire over the little village of Morganton

Morganton, North Carolina

Morganton is a city in Burke County, North Carolina, United States. Reader's Digest included Morganton in its list of top ten places to raise a family. The town was recently profiled in The 50 Best Small Southern Towns. The population was 17,310 at the 2000 census...

", possibly referring to the Brown Mountain Lights

Brown Mountain Lights

The Brown Mountain Lights are a series of ghost lights reported near Brown Mountain in North Carolina. The lights can be seen from the Blue Ridge Parkway overlooks at mile posts 310 and 301 and from the Brown Mountain Overlook on NC Highway 181 between Morganton, NC and Linville, NC...

.