0299-GCG-FoothillsConservancy ESG24-FINALb (1) - Flipbook - Page 21
2024 Impact Report
After hearing about a full-time trail job in my partner’s
Catawba Meadows Bike Park, originally planned
Western North Carolina in 2017 when I was hired by
Hurricane Helene and is now slated to open in 2025.
hometown of Morganton, my family relocated to
Burke County to help build the Fonta Flora State Trail
around Lake James. The Fonta Flora trail was the
perfect opportunity to address the lack of introductory
mountain bike trails in the region. Over a 昀椀ve-year
period, Burke County was able to grow the Fonta Flora
trail from seven miles to almost 23 miles. During that
time, I chatted with trail users about their experience
on the trail. I began to hear the phrase “昀氀ow trail” from
bikers when describing the trail. Back when I had a
mountain bike in the early aughts, we used to bike
old logging roads or crawl over roots and rocks in low
gear on narrow trail systems. What I knew of mountain
biking was a very different experience from the highbermed turns and jump lines of today.
Flow trail falls in between these two categories. It
is about riding the contours of the land at a speed
that is comfortable for the user and compatible with
a multi-use trail system. Importantly, it can be built
sustainably, with a focus on allowing water to 昀氀ow
in a sheet pattern that minimizes erosion, usually
by keeping the percent grade of trail steepness in
check. On the Fonta Flora trail system, I began to see a
growing mix of families, older riders, groups of women,
and young couples, all of whom were raving about the
trail. I knew then that we had something special.
After 昀椀ve years developing trails at Lake James,
I was ready for new challenges and to make a
bigger impact. The opportunity arose to work for
Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina (FCNC), an
organization I had collaborated with for many years
and which I knew had a stellar reputation statewide. I
made the move and immediately picked up projects
that were in various stages of development, many
with a mountain biking/multi-use focus similar to the
Fonta Flora trail.
FCNC’s current trail projects include the Catawba
to open this fall, faced delays due to damage from
This six-mile trail system will feature routes for all
skill levels, from beginner to advanced, and serve as
a race course for the North Carolina Interscholastic
Cycling League, which hosts races for middle and high
school mountain bike teams. The trails will support
local cycling teams, attract statewide competitions,
boost Morganton’s economy, and provide accessible
outdoor recreation for the community.
Oak Hill Community Park and Forest is a showcase of
the variety of land preservation, community-centered
conservation, and land stewardship project work we
do at FCNC, and the trail system is used to weave
those aspects of our work on the landscape together.
Oak Hill Park currently has 11 miles of beginner and
intermediate multi-use trails, with plans to expand the
trail system over the next few years.
The Wilderness Gateway State Trail is being
developed as an adaptive challenge trail that will
offer access to the beauty of the South Mountains
landscape-scale conservation corridor that FCNC
has spent 29 years protecting by the widest possible
variety of trail users.
Together, these projects and others in our area of
Western North Carolina will cement our region as
a destination for a new type of mountain biking
experience; one that focuses on beginner to
intermediate experiences and caters to a wider range
of users of different ages and skill levels, all the while
focused on the long-term sustainability of the trails
themselves. These trails will serve as a beacon to the
community to get outside and enjoy nature with a
focus on the beautiful landscapes of the region. They
are and will continue to become trails that feel good
to walk, run, and ride; trails that you can feel good
about and that make you happy – the “Foothills Feel!”
Meadows mountain bike trails, Oak Hill Community
Park and Forest, and Wilderness Gateway State Trail.
These projects all share the same goal: to become
community resources that sustainably connect people
to the land. Each one of these projects is very different.
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