Agenda - 09-19-2017 - 7-a - Mountains to Sea Trail – Report on Segment 11 Trail Planning

Browse Search

1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: September 19, 2017 Action Agenda Item No. 7-a SUBJECT: Mountains to Sea Trail — Report on Segment 11 Trail Planning DEPARTMENT: Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation (DEAPR) ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Map — NC Mountains to Sea Trail David Stancil, 919-245-2522 Statewide Master Plan, Segment 11 Kim Livingston, 919-245-2514 OWASA Conditions and Materials Marabeth Carr, 919-245-2516 Memo — Segment 11 Trail Planning Map — Proposed MST Segment 11 Map — Proposed Occoneechee Mountain to Seven Mile Creek Section PURPOSE: To receive information regarding the results of community meetings, information gathering, and trail planning efforts undertaken to identify a route(s) for the "Segment 11" portion of the NC Mountains to Sea Trail (MST), from Hillsborough to Alamance County. BACKGROUND: The North Carolina Mountains to Sea Trail (MST) is a continuous off-road trail that will link Clingman's Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Jockey's Ridge State Park on the state's Outer Banks. The trail is part of the North Carolina State Parks system. At present over 650 miles of the roughly 1,000-mile trail route is open for use. In 2014, the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation contracted with consultants to complete a statewide MST Master Plan. The statewide master plan, approved in 2015, includes an established corridor (or "swath") for the MST across the state, broken into defining segments. The plan includes information about each segment, prioritization and plans for further work along the MST, centralized web-based content about progress along the trail corridor, and a set of tools and guidelines to assist trail planning partners. One of the regions in the state where the trail corridor was in need of further identification is the Eastern Piedmont section, from Greensboro to Durham. Segments of the adopted MST corridor traverse Orange County, entering from southwestern Orange County at the Haw River or Alamance County line, and continuing northeast through lands owned by the Orange Water and Sewer Authority around Cane Creek Reservoir. The MST corridor continues northeast to the Orange County Upper Eno Nature Preserve (Seven Mile Creek) lands, before entering Hillsborough along the Town's Riverwalk and heading eastward into Eno River State Park and Durham. In the statewide master plan, these are defined as two segments — the section from Alamance County to Occoneechee Mountain at Hillsborough being "Segment 11", and the section from that point eastward to Durham County identified as "Segment 12". These segments are also reflected in the adopted Orange County Parks and Recreation 2030 Master Plan.