Triad nears decision on cross-state trail route
| Triad planners are nearing a decision on the route that North Carolina’s cross-state Mountains to Sea Trail will take through their area. The trail, conceived in the 1970s, is meant to ultimately stretch 940 miles from Clingman’s Dome in the mountains to Jockey’s Ridge on the Outer Banks. Existing trail is being used where available, but sections must be linked over property owned or governed by a variety of jurisdictions. The most complete section – 240 miles – is the western end because of the large amount of public land available. |
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n the Triad, the trail already includes a portion of the Greensboro city trails along Lake Townsend, but the section is miles from other approved parts of the long trail. In February, the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments and state officials held a planning conference so interested parties in the eastern half of the region could work on a plan to link short trails. “What a regional organization like ours is able to do is help connect the dots,” said Randy Billings, the council of governments’ executive director. Members have devised a draft plan that starts with the Lake Townsend trail and goes north into Rockingham to the fledgling Haw River State Park. It then follows the Haw into Alamance, where other sections of the trail are being formed.
search for : North Carolina, Mountains to Sea Trail, Clingman’s Dome, Jockey’s Ridge on the Outer Banks, Lake Townsend, Piedmont Triad Council of Governments, Alamance
