Imagine trying to condense the traffic of I-40 onto a dusty rural backroad that time — and, somehow, the state DOT — forgot. For years, that's been the case with the Buckquarter Creek Trail at Eno River State Park, the popular park's second most popular trail, according to park ranger Christopher Ammon. The trail's popularity is due in part to the fact it's short — a 1.2-mile loop — and to the fact that half of it is along a particularly entertaining stretch of the Eno (including Fews Falls, one of the biggest drops on the river). Buckquarter Creek is especially popular with infrequent hikers, which is to say folks who come wearing sneakers and totting a Starbucks cup when in fact mountaineering boots and rope are more apropos.
The emerging new high road on Buckquarter Creek Trail vs. the old low road (you can't see it because it's underwater).
That's changing, however, thanks to a $140,000 trail restoration/relocation project designed to provide a more user-friendly experience. Ammom says the trail affected is an 1,100-foot stretch that runs upstream from Few Falls (the wooden staircase near the trailhead). A recent hike showed the project involves lots of reinforcement rock and the use of a Bobcat-like device to clear a swath of trail. A straight, level swath. The trail remains open during construction, but be warned that recent rains have made areas mucky and the recent addition of silt fences may require a Willie Davenport move here and there.
Ammon says the new trail section should be finished mid-June.
