A 15-year-old girl sustained minor injuries after slipping and falling into the water at the Eno River Rock Quarry recently.
The girl was taken to Duke Hospital in good condition after the fall.
There is a large cliff at the location near the Orange County line where the park continues into Durham County. Visitors have used that cliff to jump into the water for years.
North Carolina Parks and Recreation assistant director Don Reuter reminds Eno River State Park visitors that despite its popularity, the rock quarry is not an approved swimming area.
“It’s not a good idea to go out there for a number of reasons,” says Reuter. “There are concerns about the water quality in there; it’s not tested. Also, there are things under the water that you might not see, and then people also jumping off the sides are putting themselves at risk of injury if they slip or lose footing as they’re trying to jump in.”
According to Reuter, there are six park rangers at the Eno but stopping visitors from swimming in the quarry is advised, not enforced.
“It’s a philosophical thing on a number of fronts,” says Reuter. “First of all, it’s impossible to put a fence around the quarry. It’s a public area; it’s a public park.
“The park belongs to the people that are visiting it.”
There have been two drownings in the quarry over the last 10 years.
Photo via TripAdvisor
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