After three years on the fritz, Chimney Rock's buried elevator is running again

One of North Carolina park system's odder bragging points is back after being closed to the public for three years: The 26-story elevator buried deep within Chimney Rock.

Chimney Rock State Park says it is "one of the few places in the world with an elevator inside a mountain."

The elevator was been shuttered since August 2015 after a series of "jerky" rides and "service interruptions." That's a polite way of saying park visitors were getting stuck on an elevator...in a tunnel...under a mountain....and had to be rescued by firefighters and park rangers.

State officials predicted in 2016 it would take "several months" to make the repairs to the 70-year-old machinery.

While it took three years to fix, the elevator took only 18 months to build, starting in 1947, according to the state park system. It opened in May 1949.

The 258-foot shaft rises through a solid granite cliff, taking people to the top of the mountain in 32 seconds, says the park's web page. By foot, it's about a 25-minute hike to the top via the 499-step Outcroppings trail.

Chimney Rock is among the state's most iconic and photographed parks, named for a 535 million-year-old monolith that offers a 75-mile view on a clear day.

In May, the park was battered by heavy rains from a sub-tropical storm, leading to the collapse of a retaining wall. Repairs to the wall continue and the park's top parking lot remains inaccessible, the park said in a Facebook post.

It will be fixed later this summer, officials said. Until then, visitors must take a shuttle bus to the top lot, then "walk about the length of a football field uphill" to the elevator tunnel entrance, officials said.