As we wind down 2024, we wanted to share an update on the recovery along the MST in the western part of the state.

Several land managers have reopened portions of the lands that the MST crosses to volunteer work. Just yesterday morning, we had an update call with the Blue Ridge Parkway, which has reopened 46 miles south and west of Asheville from mile post 423 to 469. In those areas, Carolina Mountain Club is working, not just on the MST, to make sure the trails are cleared and safe. Before the trail can be reopened to volunteers, BRP staff, emergency response teams and other professionals have cleared dangerous tree tangles and assessed that our skilled volunteers can finish the restoration work. There is work for all volunteers from sawyers and those who can rebuild trail beds, to those with strong backs and energy to haul debris from the trail corridor.

The good news coming out of our call is that we are planning a workday in coordination with the Parkway and Carolina Mountain Club in the new year to clear the majority of the unopened trail corridor in the Asheville area. Watch for news on that early next year. We’re very encouraged by the work that the National Park Service has done in this popular area and expect that significant portions of that area to be reopened before too much longer.

Near Grandfather Mountain, our Tanawha Trail Task Force has assessed the open trail there and will begin work to clear those miles of trail, with the addition of new volunteers from the running community and Appalachian State University. An additional four miles is open to the north on the parkway and our Watauga Task Force has cleared those, meaning that the trail from mile posts 286 to 305 is or soon will be passable.

The trail is closed along the remainder of the Blue Ridge Parkway, either because of catastrophic damage to the roadbed, shifting landslides or unfathomable amounts of downed trees. The descriptions of the landscape are incomprehensible, and we understand that these areas are still being assessed. Additionally, our crews in parts of Watauga and Ashe counties are not able to access the trail because previous paving projects have been restarted after a pause for hurricane cleanup.

The one exception is at Doughton Park, where National Park Service and MST volunteers have been clearing the trails. That is a challenging location to access because the parkway is closed on both sides for another paving project and the park is only accessed by side roads and trails.

Outside of these opened areas, the parkway and the MST that runs alongside it have a long, long way to go. The damage is historic and will need time and much funding to overcome. The Parkway will be a changed experience for drivers and hikers, though there will be positive outcomes including building a more sustainable trail and continuing to strengthen our relationship with National Park Service. There is help on the way, and we are hopeful.

Elsewhere, our Central Blue Ridge Task Force has been assessing the MST in the Linville Gorge area once the Pisgah Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest reopened to volunteers recently. The reports are somber, with descriptions of massive amounts of downed trees with huge root balls, washed out roads creating impassable areas, and completely missing sections of trail especially near the water crossings. We have lost a major bridge in the area, crossing the North Fork of the Catawba River, with half of the nearly 200-foot span lodging itself nearby but the other half traveling a long distance downstream, threading under a railroad trestle before creating havoc where it landed. This bridge was installed in the early 2000s, and there is no current safe way to cross the river here.

Much of the infrastructure in the forest will need to be restored before trails can be accessed, as initially only 20 percent of the roads in the Pisgah Ranger District were passable. Other groups including Wild South and the Backcountry Horsemen are working in this area as well, with progress happening.  Our crew is working steadily, and we plan to add additional volunteers to some of these partner groups next year.

The trail coming down from the Blue Ridge Parkway from Devil’s Garden Overlook through Stone Mountain is still closed through the State Park. Elkin Valley Trails Association, Friends of Stone Mountain and Friends of the MST held a joint workday there recently to work on other trails through the park and are on standby to help when needed. There are some nasty tree tangles that will require professional crews before volunteers are allowed in.

Elsewhere across the western part of the state, we have been humbled by the work that MST volunteers have done to help with general recovery and to rebuild other trails. We aren’t surprised by the generosity of this community, as we’ve felt it for years and continue to feel it every day but have been heartened to see so many pitching in where they can.

We encourage you to support our mountain communities and trails during the recovery, and to help you, we’re tracking what is open to hikers. You can find the most updated list of trail conditions and openings on our trail conditions page. While these sections are open, remember that not all have been fully assessed or cleared. Hike at your own risk and let others know where you are before heading out.

Photo credits: K. & S. Lee – one half of the washed out bridge that stood over the North Fork of the Catawba River. This is the half that traveled a significant distance from where it originally stood. Note the change to the river bed, now a sandy beach.