Imagine this: get to paints through a motorcycle from Henderson County to Asheville, safely, on a paved road from the roar and cars of I-26 and US 25.
Or walk along a wide, shaded greenway between Enka and Waynesville instead of driving over the U.S. 19/23.
Or, in fact, mountain biking from downtown Asheville to the Trails of the Bent Creek Experimental Forest having to ride a motorcycle in a motor vehicle.
These are all visions of the Hellbender Regional Trail.
This is a concept being developed through the French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization, county planners and planners, and others advocating places to live, move, and recreate more safely and environmentally friendly in much of western North Carolina.
DFO FBR will comment on the draft plan until August 21.
Instead of starting from scratch, the 150-mile trail formula would link the green, pedestrian and motorcycle tracks that are already on the floor and those that are understructure in Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison and Transylvania counties.
“The Hellbender Trail concept is simply to bring our region closer together with facilities for cyclists and pedestrians,” said Tristan Winkler, DFO Director at French Broad River.
“Right now, the operation of the infrastructure and the development of plans for bicycles and pedestrians is very, very local. Buncombe County has a plan, Henderson County has a plan, the city of Canton and Wanesville have plans, etc.
“There are all these paintings that have been made through local staff, elected officials and defenders from across the region. Our paintings were starting to unite them,” Winkler said.
And a name.
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Hellbender seemed to be the ideal solution, he said of North America’s most giant aquatic salamander. Hellbenders can grow up to 2 feet long and have an unusually giant head. Once abundant in mountain rivers, their populations have declined significantly and the owners of hell are now a species in North Carolina.
“A master of hell is local. It has been around for a long, long time and is unique to WNC,” Winkler said.
“And that sounds difficult. Somehow, it reflects the WNC terrain. When other people think about biking, walking and hiking in our area, they say, “These mountains are so difficult.” It’s anything that incarnies that. “
It also has a bad reputation for marketing, planners say.
The so-called “Hellbender” can raise awareness of special herbal resources that are unique and important to western North Carolina. This shared wisdom can help Americans and communities reconnect with the nature and administrators of the herbal world,” the draft plan states.
Winkler said hellbender Trails’ boost is that “our region is increasingly regional.”
More and more people are moving between counties. For example, 12,000 Henderson County citizens go to work in Buncombe County, a growing number, he said. But also to have fun and have fun outdoors.
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“But right now, those links for motorcycles and pedestrians don’t exist in our area. We see other places like Swamp Rabbit Trail, Virginia Creeper or Carolina Thread Trail (in Durham), where they expand those regional trails for motorcycles and hikes,” Winkler said.
Of the 150 miles planned for Hellbender, there are only 12 miles, adding Brevard Bikepath, French Broad River Greenway in West Asheville, Oklawaha Greenway in Hendersonville and Waynesville Recreation Park Greenway.
Elizabeth Teague, director of planning for Waynesville, who lives in Buncombe County, said there were about 2 miles of greenways on the Haywood County floor, that there were plans for bigger things.
These come with a greenway from Lake Junaluska to downtown Waynesville, and a greenway about four miles from Enka in Buncombe County along the United States 19/23 to Canton, Clyde and Waynesville.
“What’s unique to WNC is the amount of public land we have, and of course the mountains here already have those glorious trail resources that other people love to walk,” Teague said. “It’s a way to integrate those resources and take them to local roads and parks.”
She said Hellbender Trail would be ideal for local citizens to move or recreate, but also local economies.
“Many other people see WNC as a destination because of our trails. We also saw this as an opportunity for economic development,” Teague said.
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She said it can act as a mini mountain trail to the sea, connecting parks and cities, such as the Great Smoky Mountains with Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville, Mount Mitchell State Park and, in all likelihood, the Carolina coast to attract and take out others. -de-turns.
Or like the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail, which connects villages and recreation spaces in 14 states.
The feed rate of the greenway has been very slow. It’s not because you try. But if we can paint in a combination at the regional level, it can boost and stimulate everyone’s efforts in their own context to help us drive this project forward.
There may also be a comparison between the Hellbender Regional Trail concept and Blue Ridge Parkway, said Mike Sule, director of the nonprofit Asheville on Bikes.
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“I inspire others to think of Blue Ridge Parkway, which developed as a recreational facility,” Sule said, adding that one of the worst economic recessions in the country, the Great Depression of the 1930s, was also built.
The boardwalk, which passes directly through Asheville, is now one of the most visited national parks in the country, with about 15 million visitors last year and an economic effect of approximately $1.4 billion on local communities.
“You’ll find very few people who would help recoup the Blue Ridge Parkway investment. We’ll have to manipulate the Hellbender like we did for the creation of the ride. It will attract many others to our “This will help revitalize small towns and will also be an advantage for other people in the region,” Sule said.
“Many of us took advantage of the weekend trek to let go, walk, locate a waterfall. The Hellbender will be like this, you can stop by for a run or a motorcycle or ride a bike and ride a bike in the region,” he said.
The Hellbender Plan cites a 2012 economic effect on the exam commissioned through Friends of the Ecusta Trail, the city of Hendersonville, the city of Laurel Park and the DOT on the Ecusta Trail assignment that links Transylvania and Henderson counties. The study found that approximately $9.4 million will be refunded thanks to tax revenue, guest expenses, fitness care savings, higher asset values and direct use value.
One of the most demanding situations to know Hellbender Trail will be funding, said Josh O’Conner, Director of Recreation and Parks for Buncombe County.
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“It all depends on whether we have new funding resources. We have demanding situations unique to our region that make things a little prohibitive, like terrain and topography,” O’Conner said. “And we just don’t have the same amount of external capital that you can see in other spaces that build greenways.”
He cited the 5-mile Woodfin-Riverside Drive heist that derailed because the North Carolina Department of Transportation took the flight budget for all of its greenway projects across the state.
O’Conner said that once in class, Hellbender would provide other people with safe opportunities to take advantage of their health.
“This will give other people the opportunity to exercise that suits them, whether walking, running or cycling, opportunities available and simple for others to adopt an active lifestyle without having to drive to do so,” he told me.
He said segments that are part of the Hellbender Trail would meet the ADA or be available to others with reduced mobility.
Planners say the regional trail would also provide environmental benefits, adding green spaces to mitigate stormwater runoff while serving as an herb filter, trapping urban runoff contaminants before they reach waterways and providing habitat for many local plants, insects and animals in the area.
It is especially vital to invest cash and concentrate on traces of the coronavirus pandemic, Teague said, where it is sometimes safer to be than inside, where the virus spreads more easily.
“COVID brings a new direction and a new awareness of the importance of green spaces and the importance of having spaces where the public can pass and exercise and create this kind of open urban space,” Teague said.
“This pandemic has demonstrated the need for public parks and how others have adopted these open spaces in a new way.
Do you want to comment?
French Broad River’s DFO will comment on the proposed Hellbender Regional Trail Plan until August 21. Comment on the form of Google Doc on the online page http://frenchbroadrivermpo.org/multimodal/ or by email to [email protected].
Karen Chavez is an award-winning environmental and outdoor journalist for Asheville Citizen Times and USA TODAY. She is best dog rides: North Carolina and is a former National Park Service Forest Guard.
Contact me: [email protected] or on Twitter .
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