Located within Charlotte city limits, the trails at Renaissance Park have something for everyone: rocks, roots, and great flow.
The IMBA Trailbuilding School at Lake Norman State Park was a great opportunity for area rangers to interact and offered a chance to highlight these great trails being constructed just 45 minutes north of Charlotte.
The Charlotte Trailblazers, the Dirt Divas, and the Hick Hucksters get ready to head out in the field for an advanced rock clinic.
Woody Keen trekked down from the mountains to provide his trailbuilding expertise and his new toy, the IBEX. Here Woody puts in a rolling grade dip to direct water off the trail.
Volunteers worked on advanced rockwork, including this stone-pitched stream entrance being supervised by a future trail boss.
The final product is a great addition to the trails at Renaissance, decreasing sediment dumping in the stream and adding a technical rock challenge. The result: a fun stretch of sustainable trail that's rock-solid.

Trailblazing in the Queen City - Charlotte, North Carolina

Advanced Trailbuilding School Focuses on Rock Armoring

Continuing a spring foray through the southeast, Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew leaders Aaryn Kay and Scott Linnenburger kicked off the annual Charlotte Bike Week in May with an IMBA Trailbuilding School and work project at Renaissance Park. Hosted by the Tarheel Trailblazers, Scott and Aaryn presented a school focused on rock armoring techniques for sustainability and technical challenge. The weekend's volunteer work projects resulted in an armored stream crossing, a flagstone trail section, and a rock-buttressed bermed turn. With a corps of experienced trailbuilders, Charlotte volunteers can use these new tricks to keep trails rut-free and help them dry out more quickly after summer thunderstorms.

The Crew's Charlotte visit also included a one-day IMBA Trailbuilding School at Lake Norman State Park for North Carolina State Parks rangers. Lake Norman is only the second North Carolina State Park to approve new singletrack mountain biking trails. The park's progressive management, along with the trailbuilding acumen of Bob Karriker, will ensure continued construction of rolling singletrack until the initial goal of 15 miles is reached.

With more than 30 miles of singletrack in and around the Queen City, Charlotte area riders are lucky to have a prime choice of riding areas, and all the local trails offer great experiences.

Special thanks to Frank Pietras, Bart Stetler, Jack Crouch and all the Tarheel Trailblazers; Bob Karriker and Casey Rhinehart for their leadership at Lake Norman; the Dirt Divas; and Woody Keen and Julie White for continuing to build capacity for more and better mountain biking opportunities throughout North Carolina.