You don’t. But you do build on it.

The just-passed Year of the Trail was intended to promote North Carolina’s vast trail system. Hiking trails, sure, but paddling, biking and equestrian as well. Year of the Trail events were held in 94 of the state’s 100 counties, those events ranging from hour-long guided walks on local greenways to three-day festivals celebrating trails across the state. The ultimate sign of Year of the Trail’s success? When the concept was conceived by the state’s General Assembly in 2021, it included $29.15 million for trail development; in the budget passed this past fall, legislators allotted nearly twice that much for trail development in the next two years.

Much of that money is targeted to the North Carolina’s State Trails, of which there are 14. State trails? you may wonder. These are longer trails — some hiking, some paddling, some both, one equestrian — that date back to the 1970s. You’ve likely heard of one, the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, you likely haven’t heard of the others. Each trail has a non-profit partner that is in charge of the trail’s development. Here’s a quick synopsis of the trails, including it’s partner:

• Dan River State Trail, 90-mile paddle trail in Surry, Stokes and Rockingham counties. Partner: Dan River Basin Association
• Deep River State Trail, 125-mile paddle and hiking trail that follows its namesake river from Jamestown in the Triad to Moncure. Partner: Piedmont Land Conservancy
• East Coast Greenway State Trail, the North Carolina portion of the East Coast Greenway, which will run 3,000 miles, from Maine to Florida. North Carolina’s stretch is two, actually, one in the Piedmont and one along the coast. The converge in Wilmington. Partner: East Coast Greenway Alliance 
• Equestrian State Trail, a horse trail still in the conceptual phase that will be located south of the Triangle.
• Fonta Flora State Trail, probably the fastest developing of the State Trails, this hiking/biking trail will link Asheville to Morganton (with a loop around Lake James). About 38 miles of the trail, mostly in Burke County, are done. Partner: Friends of the Fonta Flora State Trail
• French Broad River State Trail, a paddle trail running 115 miles along the French Broad, from Rosman to the Tennessee Line. Partner: Mountain True
• Haw River State Trail, a paddle and hiking trail running from the Haw’s headwaters north of Greensboro to its conclusion in Jordan Lake. Partner: Alamance Parks
• Hickory Nut Gorge State Trail, hiking and biking trail linking the Hickory Nut Gorge area near Lake Lure with South Mountains State Park. Partner: Conserving Carolina
• Mountains-to-Sea Trail, 1,175-mile hiking trail spanning the state, from Clingman’s Dome on the Tennessee line to Jockey’s Ridge at the coast. Partner: Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail
• Northern Peaks State Trail, 40-mile hiking trail that will link Boone on the south to Mount Jefferson State Natural Area to the north. Partner: Blue Ridge Conservancy
• Overmountain Victory State Trail, the 225-mile stretch of the OVT in North Carolina; the trail runs through three other states.
• Roanoke River State Trail, paddle trail originating at Roanoke Rapids and ending at Albemarle Sound. Known for the camping platforms developed by its partner, Roanoke River Partners
• Wilderness Gateway Trail, a mostly hiking trail that will link at South Mountains State Park with the Hickory Nut Gorge State Trail (see above) with the towns of Valdese and Hickory. Partner: Foothills Conservancy
• Yadkin River State Trail, 163-mile paddle trail running from W. Scott Kerr Reservoir to Morrow Mountain State Park. Partner: Yadkin River Keeper

For more information on the North Carolina’s State Trails system, go here. For the latest on each trail, click the provided partner link.

We’ll be exploring and writing about North Carolina’s State Trails throughout 2024. Return to this space for the latest information.

The post Discover North Carolina’s State Trails appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Piedmont

Often when you move into new digs there’s so much going on you don’t have time to throw an open house. A couple months may pass before it dawns on you, “Oh, yeah … .”

That’s sorta the case with the East Coast Greenway Alliance. In February, the Alliance, which is spearheading an effort to create a 3,000-mile greenway from Key West, Fla., to Canada, announced it was moving its headquarters from Rhode Island to Durham. The move was seen as the Alliance’s recognition that while the greenway was progressing nicely in the Northeast (60 percent of the trail is done through New York, about 50 percent in New Jersey and a number of other states), development in the South was lagging. North Carolina, which stands to house about 390 miles of the East Coast Greenway, only has 14 percent of it complete. Thus, while it was unpacking boxes, signing a lease, getting its mail forwarded AND pushing for more greenway development in the South, an open house was delayed — until this Saturday.

And what better way to meet your new cycling neighbors than by throwing a bike ride?

The 28-mile ride will start and end in the heart of Durham, at the Diamond View lawn, next to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and across from the American Tobacco Campus. Fittingly, more than half of the ride (57 percent for you sticklers) will be on greenway (including the American Tobacco Trail and the recently completed Third Fork Creek Trail), “with the safest roads we could find for the rest,” according to ride organizers.

U.S. Rep. David Price will say a few words at 9:45 a.m. before the ride departs at 10 a.m. There are two rest stops, including one at the East Coast Greenway Alliance’s new office, and riders are expected to return at 1:20 p.m. Smaller riders can partake of the last 4.25 miles of the event with a small fry ride departing Solite Park on the ATT at 12:30.  Go here for a map of the route.

I’ll in the mix (look for a red cross bike), tweeting, shooting video, taking pictures — the whole multi-media thing. I’ll have a report on the ride next week, but really, it won’t be the same as being on the ride, which requests only a $5 donation (it’s free if you’re a member of the East Coast Greenway Alliance.) Should be fun.

For more on the ride, go here.

Photo: Saturday’s ECGA open house ride finishes on this stretch of the American Tobacco Trail heading into downtown Durham.

Coast

Meanwhile, at the coast it’s the 22nd Annual River to the Sea Bike Ride, a “casual-paced 20-mile ride” from Wilmington’s Front Street out to Wrightsville Beach Park and back using the River-to-the-Sea Route).  The ride is intended for all level of riders, it’s flat and there will be refreshments at the midpoint, in Wrightsville Beach Park. You must wear a helmet for this free ride that starts at 8:30 a.m. from Bailey Theatre Park, 12 N. Front Street in Wilmington.

More info, call 910.798.7165 or 910.256.7925

Mountains

Whenever I think of mountain rides I tend to think of long, grueling climbs up grades approaching 20 percent being pushed by lean, large-lunged cyclists. Maybe that’s why I tend not to think of mountain rides all that often. But Saturday’s ride sponsored by the Watauga Leisure Bike Club (just the name inspires comfort) is one worth giving  a thought.

The Watauga Leisure Bike Club (motto: “Biking for The Fun of It”) is, says its Web site, “an informal club consisting of cyclists of varying ages and abilities who enjoy biking and sightseeing.” They sponsor two or three rides a week, most taking two hours or less, on routes that can range from “very flat to quite hilly.”

Saturday’s ride begins at 9 a.m. and is rated “Low Intensity with higher intensity option.” It starts (and ends) from the Bethel Community Park in Sugar Grove (here’s a map.) It’s free.

For more info on the ride and the club, go here.

* * *

* Apologies to Vanity Fare (and to you).

Those are GGNC’s thoughts for an active weekend. Find out other ways you can get out this weekend by browsing our super calendar, a collection of events calendars from throughout the state, below.

Coast

CapeFearCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar for the Cape Fear/Wilmington/southern N.C. coast searchable by date and event name.

Coastal Guide
Comprehensive calendar including nature programs from a variety of costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs. Covers the entire coast.

Crystal Cost Tourism Authority
Comprehensive calendar focusing on the Crystal Coast. Good source for programs offered by N.C. Coastal Federation, Cape Lookout National Park, N.C. National Estuarine Research Reserve and other costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs.

NCCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar including programs for the Outer Banks and Crystal Coast.

North Carolina Coast Host
Comprehensive calendar for the entire coast that lets you search for events by day, by region, by county, by city or by event (based on key word).

This Week Magazine
Primary focus is the Crystal Coast (North Carolina’s coastal midsection).

Mountains

Asheville Citizen-Times
From the main page, click on “Outdoors,” then WNC Outdoors calendar.

Blue Ridge Outdoors
Searchable calendar lets you extend your reach to events throughout the mid-Atlantic and Southeast (or you can just limit it to North Carolina). Also lets you search a boatload of categories, ranging from Hiking, Mountain Biking and Climbing to Trail Running, Triathlon and Road Walking.

The Mountain Times
From the main page, click on “Calendars,” then Main Events.

Todd’s Calendar

Piedmont

Charlotte

Charlotte Observer events calendar
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including Nature, Recreation, Recreation & Wellness, Running

Charlotte Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triad

GoTriad.com
Comprehensive calendar includes a Sports & Recreation category.

Piedmont Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triangle

Triangle.com
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including: Birding, Boating, Cycling, Nature, Rec & Wellness, Recreation, Running, Swimming, Tennis, Yoga.

Carolina Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Statewide

Office of Environmental Education
One calendar for the numerous Environmental Education Centers statewide.

North Carolina State Parks
Lets you search for programs at the state’s parks, recreation areas and natural areas by location, by month, by topic. To reach the calendar from the home page, click on “Education,” then “Fun & Free Programs at Parks.”

National Forests in North Carolina
From the home page, click on Carolina Connections for news updates on the state’s four national forests as well as hints on recreational opportunities and a detailed rundown of recreation areas and the amenities at each.

The post Ride, ride, ride, hitch on to a ride* appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Carolina Thread Trail
Charlotte area

“The Carolina Thread Trail will be a mega project of rail-trails and streamside greenways in the greater Charlotte region,” Dave Connelly with N.C. Rail-Trails says.

Indeed, this is the largest and most ambitious of the long-distance greenways envisioned for the state, encompassing hundreds of miles of trails in 15 counties in the Charlotte area and spilling into South Carolina. The Thread Trail was conceived in 2005 as a way for the various municipalities in the 15-county area to keep tabs on what their neighbors were up to and focus their individual efforts on trails that could contribute to an interconnected trail network.

Go here to find a map of trails existing and planned that will make up the Carolina Thread system.

Atlantic-Seaboard Coast Line
Fayetteville to Wilmington

This project could become a part of the East Coast Greenway, linking Fayetteville with Wilmington. Spearheaded by the West Pender Rail-Trail Alliance with support from BlueCross BlueShield Foundation of North Carolina and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, an assessment is underway evaluating the feasibility of using an 80-mile stretch of unused rail corridor between Fayetteville and Wilmington.

This rails-to-trails project is especially attractive, creating a destination greenway with significant tourism potential in economically depressed eastern North Carolina.

Learn more about this project at the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Web site.

Old Beltline Trail
Durham

This isn’t a long trail — just a couple of miles — but it’s an interesting one. This abandoned rail line in Durham once connected several tobacco plants in town. When the plants ceased needing connecting, the line closed. It played a vital role in joining the numerous tobacco plants across town, and it would also play a vital role as a pedestrian transportation corridor. And, says, Connelly, Norfolk Southern has indicated they may be willing to abandon the line.

“It goes three-quarters of the way around town,” says Connelly, “even though it’s just a couple miles in length.” Roughly, it would run from near the Amtrak station along the west edge of downtown to the east end of Elizabeth street. Using sidewalk connectors, it would link with the American Tobacco Trail a couple blocks to the south.

Atlantic & Yadkin / Bicentennial greenway
Greensboro/High Point

The Triad is on the cusp of a two-trail system that would include about 16 miles of connected trail. On the north end, the 7.5-mile Atlantic & Yadkin Greenway currently starts below Cone Boulevard and runs north-northwest past Country Park, the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park into the watershed lakes, including Bur-Mil Park. The watershed lakes area is especially popular with mountain bikers who for years have feasted on Wild Turkey, Owl’s Roost and Reedy Fork trails. Currently, the greenway ends just above Strawberry Road, but Madeleine Carey, assistant trails and greenways director with Greensboro Parks & Recreation, says it eventually will extend four miles north into Stokesdale. On the south end, she says the trail will extend into downtown Greensboro, where it will be one of four trails connecting with the Downtown Greenway, a work-in-progress that will encircle downtown Greensboro.

At roughly the midpoint of the existing Atlantic & Yadkin Greenway, at Old Battleground Avenue and Lake Brandt Road, is the northern end of the Bicentennial Greenway. Eventually, the Bicentennial Greenway, conceived in the early 1980s, will run south for 15 miles to High Point’s City Lake. At present, the trail runs 4.9 miles from its northern trailhead (including some sidewalk connectors) to Horsepen Creek Road. There’s a 2-mile gap before the trail picks up on the High Point and runs 8 miles, through and past the Piedmont Environmental Center.

Roger Bardsley is a planner with Guilford County Parks & Open Space, which is overseeing the Bicentennial Greenway. About a mile of that will be greenway along Horsepen Creek, and that stretch is close to beginning construction. The remaining mile will, by necessity be accomplished via a bike route and extra wide sidewalk along Burnt Poplar Road. Bardsley estimates the stretch of greenway along Horsepen Creek should open next summer, essentially completing the trail and creating a 22.5-mile Atlantic & Yadkin/Bicentennial network.

For the time being, it’s those kinds of connections that North Carolinians will have to rely on for its longer trail networks. North Carolina, says N.C. Rail-Trails’ Connelly, needs to undergo some fiscal attitude adjustment in order for us to start seeing the likes of, say, the 57-mile New River Trail and 34-mile Virginia Creeper Trail in Virginia.

“Someday North Carolina will have more destination trails like Virginia,” says Connelly. “We just have to pass this tipping point where we collectively realize that, if it’s OK to be spending $4 billion a year in North Carolina to treat obesity, then it should be OK to invest more than $6 million a year to provide bike-ped infrastructure.”

* * *

Recent similar posts:

• Destination greenways: A sneak preview, 4.8.2011
• East Coast Greenway Alliance moves in to help N.C. move on, 4.4.2011
• Triangle close to 50 miles of connected greenway, 3.16.2011
• First 8 miles of Neuse greenway to open this summer, 2.12.2011

Photo: The nearly completed 22-mile American Tobacco Trail running from western Wake County north into Chatham County and into downtown Durham, is North Carolina’s current standard for long greenway trails.

The post Longing for longer greenways appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

The Alliance is the driving force behind the East Coast Greenway, an in-the-works greenway that will one day run continuously from Key West, Fla., to Canada, a distance of nearly 3,000 miles. It bills itself as the urban alternative to the Appalachian Trail, offering a pedestrian-width ribbon of pavement instead natural surface and traveling through as many municipalities as possible, rather than avoiding them. More than 25 percent of the trail now exists. Problem is, the vast majority of the completed path lies well to the north.

“We’ve been progressing nicely in New England and the Mid-Atlantic,” says Dennis Markatos-Soriano, the alliance’s executive director. “Sixty percent of the trail is done in New York, in New Jersey it’s about 50 percent and in a number of other states, too.”

Turning to the South, Markatos-Soriano’s voice assumes the tone of a concerned parent.

“In the South,” he begins, “we haven’t had the capacity on the ground that we’ll have in the future. We’ll help give municipalities along the route, and state DOTs, all the tools they need to help us complete this route.”

How far behind is North Carolina, which stands to host about 390 miles of the ECG?

“It’s just under 20 percent complete,” says Markatos-Soriano. Checking his figures, he corrects himself. “Actually, it’s closer to 14 percent.”

That number is a bit squishy considering it includes trail that isn’t part of the long-term vision for the ECG through North Carolina. In the Triangle, the East Coast Greenway currently runs down the American Tobacco Trail from Durham into western Wake County, where it will head east and follow mostly existing greenway through Cary (White Oak and Black Creek), Umstead State Park, Raleigh (Reedy Creek, House Creek, Walnut Creek and the Neuse River greenways, which should be one continuous stretch within a couple of years) to the Johnston County line. In the long term, however, the ECG hopes to piggyback on the proposed high-speed rail line between Richmond and the Triangle, an emerging concept called “rails with trails.” (A local example is the Libba Cotten Bikeway in Carrboro, which runs a mile with freight track.)

Through the rest of the state, the route — or routes, rather — is less clear.

In North Carolina, as will be the case in several other locations, the East Coast Greenway will have alternate routes.

“We plan to stick with our historical plan for a coastal route,” says Markatos-Soriano of an alternate route that would run through Elizabeth City, Edenton, Williamston, Greenville, New Bern, Jacksonville and Wilmington.

The main route, after entering the Triangle, would have options. One is to head down the Neuse River and meet up with the alternative trail in New Bern. Another that’s been discussed over the past few years would see an extension of the American Tobacco Trail south to Harris Lake County Park and on to Raven Rock State Park near Lillington. From there, the trail would follow the Cape Fear River to Wilmington, before meeting the alternative coastal greenway and venturing south into South Carolina.

Despite the East Coast Greenway’s spotty progress to date through the state, Markatos-Soriano is optimistic. In addition to the 14 percent of trail that’s down, he says another 7 percent is “in development.” That is, either in design or construction. He says not all of that 7 percent is currently funded.

He also believes that the East Coast Greenway Alliance bears responsibility for making the trail happen through the state — and assumes the blame for why it hasn’t happened so far.

“I don’t want to put the burden on anyone but the East Coast Greenway Alliance for where we are,” he says.

Dave Connelly of Durham, vice chairman of North Carolina Rail-Trails and long-time trail advocate, says North Carolina presents a particular challenge.

“It’s a tangled web,” he says of the state. “It’s hard to see a straight line from Virginia and Willimington, and there’s no efficient way to do that.”

Connelly adds that rails-to-trails conversions have been more successful in the north because railroads’ lack of confidence in the regional economy’s ability to rebound has made them more open to abandoning their corridors for trail development. In North Carolina, however, the prospects for recovery make railroads reluctant to part with lines, even those they may not have used for 20 years and that are over-grown with pine trees and brush.

He cites as an example abandoned Norfolk Southern line running north from Durham. Not long ago there was talk of using that corridor to extend the American Tobacco Trail, which currently ends in downtown Durham, into Person County. But even though the line hasn’t been used in years the railroad isn’t convinced its days are over. Nor have they been open to the notion of a track-and-trail partnership.

“The railroad company hasn’t doesn’t see it as a benefit,” says Connelly. “They see it as liability issue with pedestrians on their property, even though that goes against tort.”

The trails making up the East Coast Greenway are built by local municipalities, sometimes in conjunction with the N.C. Department of Transportation. The alliance identifies valued corridors and works with the appropriate parties to help the greenways along the ECG’s path.

“We’re not trying to mandate routes,” Markatos-Soriano stresses. “We work with state leaders, with municipalities … .” A number of the folks they work with make up the alliance’s North Carolina committee, which he describes as “very well developed” and which will be invaluable in pushing trail development in the state. Also boding well is the fact that Gene Conti, secretary of NCDOT, has served on the alliance’s board of directors. (Another good sign: Chuck Flink, president and founder of Durham-based Greenways Inc., currently sits on the board and is a past chairman.)

There are even more promising sign of the East Coast Greenway Alliance’s commitment to the area. Markatos-Soriano says they recently signed a five-year lease for office space in Durham (just off the ATT near NC 54). Connelly sites an even stronger tie. Markatos-Soriano is from Pittsboro and went to UNC Chapel Hill, and he and his wife have family in Durham, offering the one enticement lacking from any other relocation packages the alliance may have entertained.

Says Connelly: “They have free babysitting in the area.”

* * *

More

For a map of proposed East Coast Greenway routes through North Carolina, and of existing trail, go here. For more in the ECG in North Carolina, go here.

East Coast Greenway Alliance Open House

When: May 7, 10 a.m.

Where: Originating from the American Tobacco Campus in Durham. More information will be posted here as it develops.

What: What more appropriate way to celebrate the ECGA’s new headquarters than with a 27.5-mile ride on nearby greenways, followed by food and speakers. Additional information TBA.

Photo: Riders enjoy a stretch of the East Coast Greenway on the American Tobacco Trail in Chatham County.

The post East Coast Greenway Alliance moves in to help N.C. move on appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Like ride your bike from Raleigh to Durham, mostly on greenways?

Friday at noon, 40 bikers/greenway enthusiasts will set forth from the N.C. Museum of Art on a 39-mile bike ride that will wind up five hours later in downtown Durham, at the American Tobacco Complex/Durham Bulls Athletic Park. It’s part of an effort to boost support and awareness of greenway development, support for riding greenways not just from Raleigh to Durham, but from the Triangle to Key West, Fla., or to the Canadian border. The latter is the goal of event sponsor the East Coast Greenway Alliance, which is putting together a mostly paved, off-road bike path that will run more than 3,000 miles along the East Coast. The event is also sponsored by the local Cross Triangle Greenway group. http://www.crosstrianglegreenway.org/

The path for tomorrow’s ride is the East Coast Greenway’s route through the Triangle. And a surprising amount of it — nearly 75 percent, according to ride organizers — is finished.

Reasons to ride:

• You’ll be able to discover the 75 percent of this 39 miles that is finished. More importantly, you’ll be able to find the best way to bridge the stretches that aren’t.
• Except for those brief on-road stretches, the ride will be devoid of competition from cars. (Do you know how difficult it is in the Triangle to ride 39 miles free of cars? It’s difficult, but thanks to the region’s growing greenway network it’s getting easier.)
• The ride has rest stops: at mile 10.5 (Cary’s Godbold Park), 22.6 (White Oak Church trailhead) and 31.4 (the REI at Southpoint Mall in Durham). Snacks, drinks, rest rooms — can life get better?
• It’s supposed to be sunny and 68 degrees. http://www.wral.com/weather/7day/

Perhaps the best reason to ride? The list of confirmed attendees, which reads like a  Who’s Who of Greenways — not just in the Triangle, but anywhere. Among the confirmed riders:

Dennis Markatos-Soriano, executive director of the East Coast Greenway Alliance (and UNC grad who grew up in Pittsboro).

Chuck Flink, president and founder of Durham-based Greenways Inc. One the nation’s top authorities on greenways.

Sig Hutchinson, whose contributions to local trail, open space and greenway development are two numerous to mention (go here for a rundown). The driving force behind greenway and trail development in the Triangle.

Some things you should know if you plan to ride:

• The ride starts at noon, at the N.C. Museum of Art.
• Can’t make it to the start? The peleton plans to hit the following locations at the following times: Cary’s Godbold Park, 1:20 p.m.; Bond Park, 1:25; White Oak Church trailhead, 2:45-3; REI in Durham, 4-4:15.
• There will be a shuttle, but you’ll need to sign up, pronto, when you sign up for the ride. Go here for that.
• The ride is free. You just need a bike and a helmet.
• What kind of bike? you ask. The route is mostly paved, mostly flat. However … there is five miles of fine, compacted gravel screenings through Umstead State Park and a little less than that on the American Tobacco Trail. Road tires will be OK; be advised there are some good hills in Umstead.
• A pace of 10-13 miles per hour is anticipated.
• * The ride is expected to reach downtown Durham a little after 5 p.m.
• There will be a little get-together at the end of the ride. Come prepared to get together.

You can find more information on the ride at Cross Triangle Greenway.

If you can’t make it, you can still live the ride in real time by following my account on Twitter at JoeAGoGo. And if the boss busts you for Twittering in your cube, I’ll be writing about the ride next week. That report will also include a map of the route so you can ride it in your free time. Still, much as I’d like to pretend that reading my account will be like being there, there’s no substitute for actual participation. Try and join us.

Did I mention it’s supposed to be sunny and 68?

Photo at top: A goodly portion of Friday’s Cross Triangle Greenway ride is on the American Tobacco Trail.

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