Merrick Work | The Keeper Geoffrey

He also redefined what a "keeper" is. A keeper isn't a gatekeeper who locks people out. locked the developers out so that the public could stay in. Hikers still hike Looking Glass. Climbers still climb. The only thing missing are the "Private Property" signs and the McMansions. How to Visit The Keeper’s Legacy If you want to walk the land that Geoffrey Merrick saved, head to the Looking Glass Rock Trailhead on FS Road 475 in Pisgah National Forest. It is a strenuous 6.2-mile out-and-back hike gaining 1,700 feet. When you reach the summit—that massive, flat expanse of granite—look southwest.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Merrick began quietly acquiring parcels of land at the base of Looking Glass Rock. He wasn't a billionaire with unlimited funds; he was a man leveraging savings, loans, and sheer will. His neighbors and local realtors knew him simply as "that rock climber who keeps buying swampy hillsides." the keeper geoffrey merrick

There are no roofs down there. No roads. No lights. He also redefined what a "keeper" is