Find a greenway in North Carolina

There are hundreds of miles of greenways in North Carolina. But unless one runs through your neighborhood, chances are you don’t know where they are.

Despite their popularity and growing prominence, there is no one single source for greenways in North Carolina. As I’ve mentioned, GetGoingNC.com is working on that; hopefully, in a month or so we’ll have some progress to announce on that front. Until then, I’ll share my list of Web sites detailing greenways throughout the state. Included is a quick thumbnail; click on the destination for more info.

It may not be a complete list, but it’s pretty close. If you  know of a greenway that’s not included, leave a comment and I’ll add it to the list.

Coast

Greenville 3.3-mile greenway

Jacksonville 5.5-mile Jacksonville-Camp LeJeune Rails-to-Trails greenway

Manteo 8.8-mile greenway

Piedmont

Triangle

Apex Six greenways

Chapel Hill Six main greenways/trails

Carrboro Includes 1-mile Libba Cotten rails-with-trails project

Cary 47 miles of greenway

Durham Eight greenways, including about half of the 22-mile American Tobacco Trail (pictured at top, although this section is in Chatham County)

Morrisville One greenway.

Raleigh's greenway system recently began adding helpful signs.

Raleigh 68 miles of greenway with more under construction

Smithfield 3-mile Buffalo Creek Greenway runs along the Neuse River

Wake Forest About 8 miles of greenway in 9 sections

Triad

Greensboro 32 miles of paved greenway

Guilford County Overseeing the nearly complete 15-mile Bicentennial Greenway bridging High Point and Greensboro.

Winston-Salem 16 miles of greenway

High Point 9 miles of greenway

North Carolina Birding Trail signs dot the Yadkin River Greenway.

Wilkesboro 7.4-mile (and growing) Yadkin River Greenway

Charlotte area

Mecklenburg County 13 miles of developed greenway

Carolina Thread Trail New effort to link greenways in 15 counties in the Charlotte area

Gastonia One 2.7-mile greenway, one 1.7-mile rails-to-trails project

Kings Mountain 2.3-mile greenway

Concord Four-mile downtown loop

Kannapolis 2-mile greenway

Mountains

Asheville 4.3-mile greenway with plans for 15-mile system with 12 interconnected corridors

Black Mountain More than a mile of greenway, with plans for three more greenways

Brevard 5-mile paved greenway links Brevard with Davidson River area

Franklin 4-mile, mostly paved, Little Tennessee River Greenway

Morganton 3.8-mile Catawba River Greenway, with connecting .6-mile Freedom Trail.

Statewide

North Carolina Rail-Trails Includes a rundown of 28 rails-to-trails projects throughout the state as well as projects in development.

21 thoughts on “Find a greenway in North Carolina”

  1. We have a 1.02 mile Greenway now in Havelock at the Recreation Complex off Highway 101. Will be establishing a 4+ mile Greenway on McCotter Canal soon. Have a Greenway Advisory Committee now in City of Havelock and will be aggresively moving toward more greenways.

  2. Joe,

    We have 6 miles of Greenway Trails here in Pinehurst. Our system was Master Planned in 2003 and construction started in 2004 with the first phase. You can find a link to our trail map on the website above but if you can’t access it please let me know and I’ll send you a .pdf version.

    Thank you,

    Mark Wagner, Director
    Pinehurst Parks and Recreation Department

  3. We now have 2.0 miles of greenway with the recent completion of a 1.4 mile section. The greenway will eventually reach to the Endor Iron Furnace on the Deep River. Long range hopes are to have a 20+ mile loop from Sanford to and along the Deep River and then back into Sanford.

  4. Albemarle is currently developing a 3-mile section of abandoned rail line into a greenway that will connect Rock Creek Park and Montgomery Park to downtown and to each other. The greenway project is named for late Mayor Roger F. Snyder, whose support and vision initiated the program. Currently, about 1 mile is developed, with grant funding being sought for development of the remainder.

  5. We have 15 to 20 miles of trail for equestrians, mountain bikers and hikers along with being the beginning of an awesome blue way. We are celebrating our 16th birthday this year. We have picnic tables, wooden playground, canoe launch, 1850’s log cabin we use for educational programs, fishing pier and bank fishing along almost 4 miles of river and restroom facilities. Covered picnic shelter can be reserved by calling 704-434-2357. We are located in Boiling Springs, NC (Cleveland County)

  6. First of all, this is a wonderful idea. We have about 4 greenways throughout town that connect to each other and measure out to be about 1 mile in distance. We are the Whiteville Parks and Recreation located in Whiteville, NC. Thanks a lot.

  7. Joe,
    we have about 3.1 miles of Greenway in Fletcher Community Park that
    runs along the Cane Creek and Hoopers Creek. It is a mix of wood chip,
    peeble stone and concrete and we have 3 loops that connect the Park.

    Greg Walker, Director
    Parks & Recreation
    Town of Fletcher

  8. The Rocky Mount Parks and Recreation Department has around 7 miles of greenway trails within the city. The largest trek is the 3.1 miles of greenway trail along the Tar River. We have trails that now connect our Sports Complex which has approximately 1 mile of trail within its boundaries.

Leave a Reply