This Blue Ridge village of about 600 is also the site of the annual Coon Day Festival, which takes place the first Saturday after the fourth of July each year.
It used to take a lot of pull to visit anyone in Saluda – by train that is. The 3 mile haul westward from Melrose to Saluda remains the steepest main line standard gauge of railroad track in the country. The railroad, which used to deposit passengers at a depot a couple of hundred yards east of today’s bridge overpass, started after the Civil War, to connect Spartanburg with Asheville. Convict laborers began laying track in Polk County in 1873 and reached Saluda in 1878. It was the first track to cross the Blue Ridge in North Carolina. According to the book “The North American Railroad” the Saluda Hill section had to climb to a crest of at an average 243 feet per mile (a 4.7 % incline).This forced builders to construct ” a shelf along the hill slope….to reach Saluda in a crease in the edge of the uplands,” extending to Asheville for 35 miles.
Railroad passengers found Saluda charming because of its beautiful mountain scenery and its thermo-clime – a weather phenomenon that reduces frost and dew, resulting in an extraordinary variety of plants and wildflowers. As a result, Saluda became a summer resort especially for people living in Columbia, SC. The end of regular passenger train service in December 1968 has not reduced Saluda’s appeal for tourists, who now frequent the area all year round. With its close proximity to Historic Hendersonville, Flat Rock and Asheville there are an abundant number of activities and things to see and do here. Following are some of our recommendations:
Golf
Fly Fishing
Biltmore Estate
Pearson Falls
Kayaking
Chimney Rock
Carl Sandburg Home
Biking
Hiking
Vineyards
