Agenda - 02-11-2014 - 2 - Laserfiche WebLink

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99 Orange County Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan CHAPTER 10-Goals,Objectives,and Recommendations 10 Recommendation #5: Develop a Master Plan for This segment may be one of the more-challenging in the Orange County Segment of the Mountains-to- the state, in that it requires a way to cross from the Sea Trail,and Work Towards Its Completion Neuse River basin (Eno River and tributaries) into the The NC Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST for short) is a Cape Fear River basin (Cane Creek, Haw River). As part of the North Carolina State Parks system that such,this section of the trail must travel "cross coun- connect Clingman's Dome at 6,643 feet along the try," up and over the ridgeline separating these two North Carolina-Tennessee border to Jockey's Ridge basins, which does not have a natural feature to dis- State Park on the Outer Banks and Atlantic Ocean. tinguish it. The trail is a multi-modal route, meaning that it may be a paved greenway as it runs through an urban At present, this southwestern segment of the setting, or simply a five-foot-wide natural surface planned trail is only a one-mile-wide "swath" on a path in rural areas. map, an uncharted section that will need clarification and refinement. The possibility of finalizing plans for Portions of the MST have already been built on this segment has generated considerable concern by publicly-owned lands around the state, and through some property owners in the vicinity and strong the use of other trails and connecting greenways. support for completing the trail by some of the trail Other segments have not been built, and this has led proponents. Orange County is scheduled to under- to the identification and promotion of alter- take a master plan to identify and refine the nateroutes over the last 25 years -to allow hikers to proposed trail segment later in 2014. traverse the state using roadways and other tempo- rary corridors until the actual trail could be built. The County should work diligently to undertake a Many of these uncompleted segments are in the thorough review of the possible routes through the eastern Piedmont region, including Orange County. corridor between the Haw River and OWASA Cane Creek lands, and between the OWASA Cane Creek Orange County's segment of the trail includes a lands and the Upper Eno Preserve. The master plan planned section through Eno River State Park and the process should include public meetings and Town of Hillsborough's Riverwalk along the Eno discussions with landowners about the realities of a River. This includes sections of trail through natural surface path through this area, and address Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area (part of security and other concerns raised. Long-distance Eno River State Park) and through private historic trails such as the MST require "way stations" or properties along the Eno River. Orange County's nodes along the route where some very basic level Upper Eno services are available (parking, signage, campsite, Nature Preserve is in close proximity to Occoneechee potable water). The County and OWASA should look Mountain and would also host a portion of the trail. at the possibility of creating such a way station at the (Figure 8-2 in Chapter 8 on page 8-6 shows the Cane Creek and Seven Mile Creek access areas (on planned MST corridor through Orange County.) land owned by the two entities). As shown in Figure 8-2, the remainder of the MST in Orange County should find a solution to the MST cor- Orange County is proposed for a corridor that ridor,whether on private lands, public roads or some connects the Upper Eno Preserve southwest to combination of the two — so that this important OWASA-owned lands at Cane Creek Reservoir before statewide recreational facility is planned and eventu- following Cane Creek to its confluence with the Haw ally constructed in harmony with nature. Orange River at the County line, connecting with Alamance County should not become the "gap" in the North County's Haw River Trail(which is also the MST). Carolina Mountains-to-Sea Trail. 10-9