North Carolina is a great state for many reasons – its people, culture, history, natural beauty, and so many other attributes. Five years ago, a group of committed, trail-loving North Carolinians got together with a vision of creating a coalition of nonprofits, local governments and industry partners to advocate for increased state investment in all types of trails in North Carolina – hiking, biking, paddle and equestrian – on both paved and natural surface trails. The NC Great Trails State Coalition was born!

In mid-September, I attended the first NC Great Trails State Coalition conference in Winston-Salem. For two-and-a-half days, over 350 trail planners, designers and builders, recreational professionals, community and elected leaders, tourism partners, and others met to learn and share best practices to advance trail and greenway development and promotion throughout North Carolina. It was an amazing opportunity to learn more about the vast trail infrastructure across NC, the many individuals who work tirelessly to build, connect and maintain these trails, and the commitment from the Governor’s office, his Cabinet, and the Legislature to improve our trail system. While I mainly attended sessions to learn best practices from other trails, I heard encouraging information about what our NC government and its partners are doing to invest in our natural resources and trails.

The NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR) oversees the state’s resources for the arts, history, libraries and nature, and NCDNCR Secretary Reid Wilson shared recent accomplishments. As part of a partnership called the Atlantic Conservation Coalition with South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and The Nature Conservancy, the partnership was recently awarded a $421 million grant from the EPA for conservation and restoration projects for peatland wetlands, coastal habitats, and forests across all four states.

NCDNCR has a new initiative, PATH (Parks and Trails for Health), to encourage physical activity in North Carolina’s parks, greenways, and other outdoor spaces. “The campaign is part of a broader agency initiative to expand outdoor recreation opportunities that improve physical and mental health, use state and local parks for outdoor learning experiences, and provide open space resources to diverse communities.” To achieve those goals, the agency will be focused on adding and improving trails at state-owned sites.

Explore the NCDNCR website, https://www.dncr.nc.gov/, and their trails-focused website, https://trails.nc.gov/. They are incredible resources for discovering North Carolina and its state trails.

While one usually thinks of roads when the NC Department of Transportation is mentioned, it has evolved into a multimodal agency committed to providing a comprehensive statewide transportation system that encompasses all forms of travel. Through its Integrated Mobility Division, the NCDOT has a plan for a statewide connected network of trails. Secretary Joey Hopkins highlighted this initiative: “The Great Trails State Plan will connect communities to the great outdoors while creating opportunities for active transportation, conservation, recreation, health, tourism and economic prosperity. This plan draws upon existing plans and new recommendations to identify a network of shared-use paths that will connect every county in North Carolina.” It’s very exciting to think about a fully connected NC by multi-use trails. Check it out at https://www.ncdot.gov/divisions/integrated-mobility/multimodal-planning/great-trails-state/Pages/default.aspx.

A growing network of trails is bolstered by the economic growth it generates. In 2022, outdoor recreation generated $14.6 billion in value added for North Carolina. Promoting North Carolina’s growing trail system, the Tourism division of the Economic Development Partnership of NC (EDPNC) produces a virtual welcome center that encourages visitors to our trails and trail towns. As EDPNC Vice President of Tourism, Wit Tuttell, joked, “Tourists are temporary tax payers.” While the general tourism website is VisitNC.com, their https://outdoornc.com/trail-town-guide/ celebrates Trail Towns across the state.

Isn’t it exciting to see our own Ecusta Trail become a part of the Great Trails State?

Lynn Huffman