This summer, The News & Observer has been telling the story of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, a work-in-progress path that will one day run more than 900 miles, from Clingman's Dome on the Tennessee line to Jockey's Ridge at the coast. In conjunction with Sunday's installment on the trail through the Triangle, I'm describing its passage from Hillsborough to the Johnston County line, a distance of 104 miles. Today, we follow the trail along the south shore of Falls Lake, from Penny's Bend in Durham County to the Falls dam in Wake County.
The next time you take a hike on the 11 miles of trail along the south shore of Falls Lake between N.C. 50 and the Rolling View Recreation Area, keep in mind that the trail is there because 35 to 60 volunteers have been turning out one Saturday a month since January 2007 to make the trail happen.
Help the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail extend the Falls Lake Trail this Saturday. For details, punch me.
The trail is part of the statewide Mountains-to-Sea Trail, 104 miles of which will pass through the Triangle. About 54 of those miles are in the Triangle, 37.5 are along Falls Lake.
For nearly two decades, 26 miles of the Falls Lake Trail, a k a the South Shore Trail, existed from the dam to NC 50. There, the trail stopped, thanks in large part to the State Parks Act of 1987. Among other things, the act stipulated that the parks division manage trails along Falls Lake. Problem was, says Darrell McBane, state trails manager for the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation, some of that land was under the jurisdiction of the Wildlife Resources Commission.
"It said we should be enforcing even when it wasn't on our property," says McBane.
The trail was neglected and taken over by mountain bikers and all-terrain vehicles.
But in 2006, with the oomph of the MST behind it, the various land managers — the Corps, Parks and Recreation, Wildlife Resources and the counties — resolved the situation and allowed the FMST to reopen and expand the trail — all the way to Penny's Bend in Durham. At its monthly workday this Saturday, FMST volunteers expect to punch the trail through to Santee Road, 14 miles uplake from NC 50. That would put the Falls Lake section of the MST at 40 miles — with another 25 to reach Penny's Bend.
At the rate they're building trail — and with only one significant bridge to build, Allen de Hart , guidebook author unparalleled and founder of the Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail, says the MST should be punched through to Penny's Bend, where it will continue upstream on city trail and greenway, within five years.
But what you really want to know is, "Where can I hike the trail now?" You can check the interactive map that runs with our MST series, or visit the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail Web site.
Tomorrow: A short hike along the Neuse today, a long hike/bike ride in the not-too-distant future.
Comments
If you want to ride the
Mon, 10/06/2008 - 23:14 — Anonymous (not verified)If you want to ride the trail, ride it. Is someone going to come out and give you a ticket for enjoying nature?
And if there you believe there are no hikers using the trail, then there shouldn't be a problem with riding it. Don't use a silly sign as an excuse to do nothing.
rope swing
Fri, 08/29/2008 - 15:03 — Anonymous (not verified)where's the rope swing pictured in the n and o back on 08/17/2008? looks fun!
MTS trail facts
Wed, 08/20/2008 - 11:40 — Turner (not verified)Joe and everyone else. There have been trails around that area for a long time. In the 80s they were built (I am told) by a boy scout troop. The only evidence was some bridges, but the trails were long overgrown and undetectible. The bikers BUILT a complete trail in "98 and have since changed or fixed that trail system due to logging and fire control work. The part of the trail that MTS confiscated was BUILT and maintained by bikers in 98-2000 and successfully shared by hikers and bikers for years. I was out hiking on that part of the trail 2 weeks ago and it is obvious by the downfall and spider webs that no one is using it, so I am sure it will be overgrown by mid-summer of next year. It is one thing to get those volunteers to hack away at an existing, prestine trail, but another is to have them out at least twice a year to maintain it (NC has aggressive vegitation). Also, the hikers will probably note several large areas run right through huge areas of poison ivey. Had they been open minded, we could have helped and improved their efforts. My problem with the MTS folks is their unwillingness to SHARE the trails. There are plenty of miles available and I am certain they would enjoy the trials built AND MAINTAINED by bikers and probably come to realize that mountain biking in NC is not exactly like you see on the mountain dew commercials (common misperception). They may even convert to a great way to enjoy the outdoors, get exercise and have a lot of fun. Turner
MST maintenance
Thu, 08/28/2008 - 21:49 — JoeMiller (author)FYI on the maintenance issue, each section of the trail has a person in charge of maintenance. I believe they're supposed to get out and inspect/clean their section of trail twice a month. If you hike the 14 sections of MST along Falls Lake, you'll find that they are well maintained.
MST only for hikers, what a waste.
Sun, 08/24/2008 - 11:12 — mjenkinsI was in a scout troop that built part of those trails back in the 80's. Currently I probably put in close to 100 hours a year building and maintaining trail in the Triangle (Lake Crabtree, Harris Lake, Carolina North Forest, Briar Chapel, etc... That said I'm not interested in another hiker only trail. From what I can see the MST is a joke. Just look at the water situation. How many through hikers do you really think your going to see out there? 2, maybe 3 a year? There is far more demand for shared use trail than there is for another neglected hiker only trail. Just go stand next to the trail at Lake Crabtree on a nice day. I imagine you will see riders, dog walkers, hikers, runner, etc... passing by every few minutes. Go do the same on the MST... bring lots of water, you might be there a while waiting to see another user.
Now I understand the appeal of a quiet isolated trail where people can get away from their normal lives and enjoy solitude in the woods. However, this desire isn't held by hikers alone, many mountain bikers enjoy the same type of experience. Its a shame that the MST trail excludes these passionate users. As far as I'm concerned the trail is a waste.
Mt. Bikers
Tue, 08/19/2008 - 07:14 — dpb (not verified)Joe,
Your comment about the trail being neglected by Mt. Bikers is way off. In fact, it was the Mt. Bikers that created and maintained that trail before the MTS folks forcibly took over the trails and claimed them to be their own without any credit going to all those that committed 100's of hours of personal time to create and maintain them since they were first made by mt bikers 10 years ago. The MTS folks are no friends of any mt bikers in the triangle.
d
You gotta go back further, dpb
Tue, 08/19/2008 - 13:04 — JoeMiller (author)The trail along Falls Lake I'm referring to was built in the 1980s, by a local civic club. I know the trails you're referring to, I've ridden them. The MTS trail crosses the MTB trail in a few spots. I know some of the folks who built the MTB trails and they would prefer NOT to get credit, since the trail is on gameland and is there without permission.
Joe, Actually, the 12
Wed, 08/20/2008 - 07:51 — Anonymous (not verified)Joe,
Actually, the 12 miles of mtb trail, also known as Old Creedmore were not built by a civic group in the 80's. When the MTS came in, they took 6 miles of the original 12 miles we had built and maintained for about 10 years. Most recently a portion of the land was purchased and subdivided into 3 tracts, which are currently under construction and have required another reroute of the trail.
The MTS trail doesn't just 'cross the MTB trail in a few places' it literally took over and claimed 6 miles of existing trail. My contention, is that MTS has taken the position that they built these 6 miles when that is not reality. We have improved the flow of the trail by rerouting away from the sections MTS took over, and it's even better now, no thanks to MTS.
I just want to make sure you know all the facts.
thx,
d
Fading trail
Wed, 08/20/2008 - 10:22 — JoeMiller (author)I'm just saying that there was trail along the south shore of Falls Lake dating back to the 80s, and that trail was built by a civic group. Been on that old trail, I'm corresponding with a guy who helped build it. Whether it was hijacked by the MST, whether the MTB trail took over some of the old hiking trail, I don't know. I notice you don't address the fact that the MTB trail was built without the land manager's permission. I don't want to dredge that up, because as we know, in a many cases the land owner is content to look the other way provided the trail does no harm. In fact, it can be a boon on gamelands because it provides easy hunter access onto the woods.
The MTS people are definitely anti-bike, anti-multiuse, they make no bones about it. I don't understand that philosophy and I don't agree with it. Multiuse works fine elsewhere, in most cases, it would work fine here.
Joe, the section of the MST
Tue, 08/19/2008 - 21:20 — wjcampJoe, the section of the MST from Fallsl Dam to NC50 has not been open to bikes or ridden by bikes since I started mountain biking in 2000. As a matter of fact, Sig Hutchinson and the NRMBA lobbied for access to, and built, the New Light trail system because bikes were banned from the original hiking trail on the south shoreline of the lake. As I understand the situation with that section of trail, bikes did use the trail in the early days of mountain biking in the Triangle until the authorities (whomever they might have been at the time) banned biking on the trail. Exactly as also happened in Umstead Park.
As for the new section of the MST, it did in fact take over a sizeable portion of the existing mtb trails west of NC50. The MTS folks "built" those sections of trail by surveying, flagging and marking the existing trail corridor and declaring it part of the MST.
Bill C.
That is correct. The new
Wed, 08/20/2008 - 11:43 — Anonymous (not verified)That is correct. The new section of the MST from NC50 to Boyce Mill hijacked a sizeable portion of existing mountain biking trails. It is very unfortunate this had to happen.
I have helped develop several sections of the MST and will never again based on what happened.