Archived Outdoors

Eagle Scout restores watering hole used in the old days

out wateringholeA monument built to commemorate a popular 1800s watering hole has long been hidden by ivy and vines, but an Eagle Scout project by Joey Rolland has restored the Pigeon Gap Watering Hole outside the Bethel community of Haywood County to its former glory. 

Carolina Development, which owns the site where the old watering hole is, had contacted the Bethel Rural Community Organization about restoring the wall and monument. The site was under a conservation easement requiring protection and preservation, and the Bethel community club in turn recommended it as an Eagle Scout project for Rolland. Rolland, together with members of his family and BRCO affiliates Bill Terrell and Mike McDonald, helped with the restoration. McDonald funded the improvements, including clearing overgrowth and inhibiting regrowth, cleaning the wall, polishing the monument and building a bridge. 

To visit the site, turn on the small gravel road between the crest of Waynesville Mountain and Estates at Boulder Creek. It’s a left turn coming from Bethel and a right coming from Waynesville. Park and walk past the gated barrier to the spring. 

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