I love a good trail, and while I’m familiar with a lot of traditional hiking trails in North Carolina (see “Backpacking North Carolina” and “100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina”) I’m less familiar with the state’s rails-to-trail’s projects. I realized this in December when, on a 50-mile backpack trip of the North Carolina Bartram Trail, I suddenly found myself on a 1.2-mile stretch of paved greenway along the Nantahala River. Later, I learned that I’d been on the Nantahala Bikeway, a U.S. Forest Service project that incorporates a half mile of old railbed along the Nantahala River in Swain County (near Patton’s Run, for you whitewater boaters).
I learned this by noodling around on the North Carolina Rail-Trails Web site, where I discovered the Nantahala Bikeway is not alone. In fact, there are 30 rails-to-trails projects in North Carolina encompassing 130 miles of trail. You’ve probably heard of one or two. In the Triangle, for instance, nearly everyone knows the American Tobacco Trail, a 22-mile, nearly complete trail that runs from western Wake County into downtown Durham. In the mountains, there’s the popular Thermal Belt Rail-Trail, which runs 8 miles from Spindale to Gilkey in Rutherford County, and the 4.5-mile Little Tennessee River Greenway in Macon County. At the coast, folks may have spent some time on the 5.5-mile Jacksonville-Camp LeJeune Rail-to-Trails in Onslow County.
What hampers the visibility of rails-to-trails projects in North Carolina is the absence of true superstars: Virginia’s 57-mile New River Trail and the 34-mile Virginia Creeper Trail; the 184.5-mile Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historic Park trail in D.C. and Maryland; or the granddaddy, the 237-mile Katy Trail, which spans most of Missouri. We have no superstars in large part because, unlike in the north and  Midwest where railroad companies have been willing to abandon long stretches of line, the obvious prerequisite for a rails-to-trail conversion, rail companies here retain hope that even their abandoned lines may once again become economically viable. And so, we have 30 projects across the state that have capitalized on smaller abandonments, from the 22-mile American Tobacco Trail to the half-mile Lansing Trail in Ashe County.

(We should note that, according to North Carolina Rail-Trails, there are another 97 miles of trail in development across the state and initiatives underway to add 61 more. Find out more about those projects here.)
Here’s a quick rundown of rails-to-trails projects in North Carolina, with links to find more information:

Mountains
Brevard Bike Path, 5 miles. Brevard, Transylvania County.
Forrest Hunt Greenway, 0.8 mile, Forest City, Rutherford County.
Laurel River Trail, 3.6 miles in Madison County.
Nantahala Bikeway, 1.2 miles, U.S Forest Service, Nantahala Gorge, Swain County.

Railroad Grade Road, 10 miles, Todd to Fleetwood, Ashe County. (Note: This road is also open to automotive traffic.)
Lansing Trail, 0.5, Lansing in Ashe County.
Thermal Belt Rail-Trail, 8 miles, Spindale to Gilkey in Rutherford County.
Little Tennessee River Greenway, 4.5 miles, Franklin, Macon County.
Mount Mitchell Railroad and Toll Road, 21 miles, Yancy County.

Charlotte area

Gold Hill Rail-Trail, 1 mile, Gold Hill, Rowan County.
Marcia Cloninger Rail-Trail, 1.0 mile, Lincolnton, Lincoln County.
South Fork River Rail-Trail, 1.0 mile, South Fork River, Lincoln County.
Troutman Rail-Trail, 1.0 mile, Troutman, Iredell County.
Roger Snyder and Rock Creek Park Greenways, 2.4 miles, Albemarle, Stanley County.
Irwin-Stewart Creek Greenway, 2.93 miles, Charlotte, Mecklenberg County.
Highland Rail-Trail, 1.7 miles, Gastonia, Gaston County.
Oakboro Rail with Trail, 1.5 miles, Oakboro, Stanley County.

Triad

Atlantic and Yadkin Greenway, 7.5 miles, Greensboro, Guilford County.
Strollway, 1.2 miles, Winston-Salem, Forsyth County.
Troutman Greenway, 1.0 mile, Troutman, Iredell County.

Triangle

American Tobacco Trail, 22 miles, Durham, Chatham and Wake Counties.
Eagle Spur, 2.2 miles, Durham County.
Libba Cotten Bikeway, 1.0 mile, Carrboro, Orange County.

Piedmont (rural)

Dunn-Erwin Rail-Trail, 5.3, Harnett County.
Louisburg-Franklinton Trail, 2.2 miles, Louisburg to Vance-Granville Community College, Franklin County.
Sabina Gould Walkway, 1.2 miles, Littleton, Warren County.

Coast

Jacksonville-Camp LeJeune Rail-to-Trails, 5.5 miles, Camp LeJeune to the City of Jacksonville, Onslow County.
River to the Sea Trail, 11.5 miles, Wilmington, New Hanover County.
Skewarkee Trail, 1.0 mile, Williamston, Martin County.

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The post North Carolina’s unsung Rails-to-Trails escapes 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.”

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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!.

The physical therapist hesitated, then issued his edict. “Maybe. If it’s a short hike. And if the trail doesn’t have a lot of rocks.” He hesitated again, “I dunno … .”

“What a bike ride?” I asked.

It was Marcy’s first meeting with a PT to deal with a nagging case of planter fasciitis. She’d been hobbled off and on by the annoying muscle irritation; her most recent flair-up courtesy of a walk-to-run program. We were at Cary Orthopaedic’s Performance Therapy unit — because past experience revealed they were just as interested as we were in getting us moving again as soon as possible. PT Kevin Raymond was on board with that, he just wanted to make sure Marcy didn’t go out too fast.

“Biking is good,” he answered with enthusiasm.

Our plan for the weekend had called for a hike in the mountains to take in the peaking fall color. Maybe one of the more remote trails along the Blue Ridge Parkway, maybe something along the lines of Elk Knob or Three Tops. Something that wouldn’t be crawling with leaf peepers; thus, something a little more rugged. And, thus again, less friendly to a case of planter fasciitis. I had to switch gears and come up with a day trip on a bike where we could avoid cars, hopefully avoid crowds and, if it wasn’t asking too much, get some great, colorful scenery. With surprising ease, it hit me: New River Trail State Park in Virginia. It met all the criteria:

Day trip: Our house in Cary is located not far off I-40; New River is located just off I-77, it’s all four-lane (or more) divided highway in between. Three hours of speed-limit driving (provided you keep a coffee can in the car and avoid stopping). From Charlotte it’s only a two-hour drive and from the Triad, an hour or less. A minimal investment considering the payoff.

Avoid cars: New River Trail State Park is a 57-mile long linear park that follows abandoned Norfolk Southern rail line from Galax north along the New to Pulaski. You’ll encounter hikers, joggers, horses and other cyclists, but you won’t see any motorized vehicles on this rails-to-trails project. (There are, however, occasional road crossings where you may see a car.) The surface is a friendly, finely crushed gravel that’s smooth and foot- and tire-friendly. And because it’s atop an old rail line, it’s a relatively level grade: no punishing climbs for your quads to remind you of what a slacker you’ve been.

Avoid crowds: We went up this past Saturday. It was cloudless, cool (upper 60s), and the color, albeit somewhat muted this year, was at its peak. In short, perfect conditions. While we didn’t have the trail to ourselves, we weren’t constantly dodging people, either.  Just enough fellow explorers for some good conversations — and to bum a tube from if a tire went flat.

Great, colorful, scenery: I’ll let the photos speak to that. Enjoy the slide show.

* *
New River Trail State Park
Length: 57 miles.
Width: 80 feet, on average.
Access: You can access the trail at it’s southern end in Galax, at it’s northern end in Pulaski, and at several points in between. To minimize car time, pick the trail up at its mid-point, at Foster Falls, located just off I-77 about 20 minutes north of the North Carolina state line. The trail north from Foster Falls (toward Pulaski) is flatter; the trail south to Galax has more climbs. Trail maps — there are two, for the north and south ends — are available at Foster Falls.
Fee: There’s a $3 per car fee.
More info: Go here.

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