Trailbuilding in the Tarheel State - North Carolina

Brushy Mountain Cyclist, Dwight, uses a clinometer to look into the future of North Carolina trails, and he sees great things.
The NOC work crew takes a break on the newly constructed bridge before attempting to cut bench into solid rock.
Riding the legendary loop system at Tsali Recreation Area proved educational (as well as fun), reinforcing that all trails, no matter how well designed, need some maintenance.
The 15 land managers who braved the cold and rain at the North Carolina Parks and Recreation Conference practiced trail layout and design at Country Park in Greensboro.
R.G. Absher, W. Kerr Scott Lake Supervisor and new IMBA member, wields the McLeod like a pro.
With expert instruction and a lot of patience, Mike Riter trains Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew leader Lora Woolner on the Dingo.

November found the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew helping build mountain biking access bridges that one day may span from mountains to sea.

Working at the sixth consecutive Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) Trail Camp weekend, Crew leaders Scott Linnenburger and Aaryn Kay helped construct a 45-foot long bridge that leaves the NOC trails hike-a-bike free. The visit also included planning discussions for singletrack connectors between NOC, the U.S. Forest Service's Tsali Recreation Area, and the Town of Fontana. Imagine more than 80 miles of interconnected trails in western North Carolina.

Similar discussions are taking place in the central part of the state, where several municipalities are adding trails under a plan to connect state-owned property adjacent to the North Carolina Zoo with the Uwharrie National Forest near Charlotte. Aaryn and Scott led an IMBA Trailbuilding School for a group of very excited city and county land managers at the North Carolina Parks and Recreation Conference in Greensboro. Buoyed by recent magazine coverage of singletrack opportunities in Greensboro and Charlotte, city and county parks all over the state are beginning to cater to mountain bikers rather than restrict access. This attitude seems to be infectious, with recent completion of the first legal mountain biker-built singletrack in a North Carolina State Park - Lake Norman State Park.

In other big news for Piedmont mountain bikers, the Crew kicked off the newly-minted IMBA/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Memorandum of Understanding with an IMBA Trailbuilding School and trail construction at W. Kerr Scott Reservoir near Wilkesboro. Cooperation among the Corps, Rendezvous Mountain Educational State Forest, the Yadkin River Greenway Council, and the Brushy Mountain Cycling Club will soon greatly expand the off-pavement opportunities at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Additionally, Corps leadership is excited about singletrack opportunities at other Corps lakes in the state: Philpott, B. Everett Jordan, and Falls Lake). This could mean hundreds of miles of new lakeside singletrack within minutes of more than one million North Carolinians.

Finally, ever-trying to expand their arsenal of trail building ideas, both Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crews convened at Dupont State Forest with trailbuilding and advocacy pioneers Woody Keen and Mike Riter, for training in armoring and mechanized trailbuilding on Dupont's rocky singletrack.

Turning all these possibilities into realities would not be possible without the tireless work by talented advocates like Woody and Mike, NOC, Mark Gatehouse and the Greensboro FATS, Mark Czarnecki and the Brushy Mountain Cycling Club, Bob Karriker and the Crossroads Cycling Club, and Dennis the one-man volunteer Tsali trail maintainer. Make sure to thank them the next time you're on the trails. Better yet ‹ get involved! Lend a hand, a mind, and a tool to your local club so that your favorite trail can be the one right outside your back door.