New Asheville Area Hiking and Mountain Bike Trails Coming Soon!

New Asheville Area Hiking and Mountain Bike Trails?

A conservation group and other activists are looking to create a new public park in Fairview with hiking and biking trails. The effort to buy the former Camp Woodson east of Fairview and convert it to a public park has gotten a boost from the state with a $200,000 development grant formally accepted by the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners on April 16.

The money will be passed on to the nonprofit Conserving Carolina, which has been working to acquire the approximately 250 acres for more than $1 million from the Presbytery of Asheville since the camp was last used more than a decade ago.

Trail Development

“This $200,000 that came ultimately from the state through Buncombe County will help us design and construct a trailhead, parking, and an initial set of trails for hiking and mountain biking,” said Kieran Roe, Director of Conserving Carolina.

Jason McDougald, a former employee of Camp Woodson and current director of Camp Grier in Old Fort, is spearheading the long-term push to create the park. Camp Woodson last operated as a state-supported program for adjudicated youth and closed in 2011.

The property, located off Camp Woodson Road, features a lake and other camp infrastructure. McDougald highlighted the high conservation value of the property due to its location on the Eastern Continental Divide, its south-facing aspect, and its abundance of creeks and streams.

Community Forest

Conserving Carolina will hold title to 220 acres of the property that will be used as a community forest with approximately 11 miles of beginner and intermediate hiking and biking trails open to the public. McDougald mentioned that Camp Grier has applied for a county Open Space Bond grant that could fund the construction of the trails, similar to the Gateway Trails in Old Fort.

The trails would offer varying levels of difficulty designed for children, families, and beginner riders, hikers, and trail runners. McDougald noted that they would be the only mountain bike trails in the southeast of the county, providing a new recreational opportunity for residents who currently must drive to other locations for similar trails.

Future Steps

The next steps include acquiring the property, which may require additional fundraising efforts. Federal and state funding will cover more than half of the cost, with other funders placing conditions such as permanent conservation. McDougald expressed hope for a closing on the purchase to occur this year.

He mentioned, “We’re jumping all of the various hurdles required to get ourselves to a closing on the purchase, which we’re hoping will occur this year. Some of this is out of our control because we were waiting on either the state or federal funders to give us a green light.”