On May 26th, 2021, the USFS provided this press release update on the Mortimer Trails Project.
Nebo, NC – May 26, 2021 – In partnership with the Northwest NC Mountain Bike Alliance and Trout Unlimited, the U.S. Forest Service is working on trails in the upper Wilson Creek watershed in the Grandfather Ranger District of Pisgah National Forest as part of the Mortimer Trails Project.
Trail work is currently in-progress on several multi-use trails including a road-to-trail conversion for the new Estes Ridge trail off State Road 90, east of Mortimer Campground. Equipment operators are removing 12 culverts from an old forest road to improve aquatic organism passage and reduce sedimentation into Wilson Creek. The public should avoid the area while this intensive work is in progress. Following removal of the culverts, the road corridor will be narrowed to a trail. Work is expected to extend into early July.
Northwest NC Mountain Bike Alliance volunteers are working with Terra Tek Trails for maintenance and relocations on Yancey Ridge trail off Roseboro Road, west of Mortimer Campground. This work is funded by a Santa Cruz Cycles PayDirt Grant and supported by over 300 hours of volunteer work. Terra Tek Trails recently completed maintenance of 4 miles of the existing Yancey Ridge trail. The contractor is now working on a reroute of the southern 1.3 miles of the trail, ending in Roseboro Road. This purpose-built mountain bike trail section will reroute the trail off private property, closing out steep, ditched out, fall line trail sections. The public should not ride on the new sections of trail until the project is complete. Work is expected to extend into mid-June. The old trail will remain open while the work is in progress.
Work has been completed on the upper end of the Yancey Ridge trail, near Old House Gap. Terra Tek Trails was contracted for maintenance on this section to complete road-to-trail conversion and restore drainage. An additional 100+ hours of volunteer time from the Northwest NC Mountain Bike Alliance supported this work. The trail was narrowed from an 8-foot-wide road to a 3-foot-wide trail with funding from the NC Recreation and Trails Program under an agreement with Trout Unlimited.
Trout Unlimited is also working on repairs to nearby Forest Service Road 192 (Old House Gap) and Forest Service Road 451 (Marks Mountain) as part of their broader focus in Wilson Creek to reduce sedimentation into trout streams. The public should use caution on these roads while work is in progress from June to August.
Read more about the Mortimer Trails Project on our website. Planned in coordination with local partners, the project will increase the sustainability of the trail system and add ten additional miles of mountain biking and hiking trails to the Wilson Creek Area in Caldwell and Avery Counties.
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