Lance Huss returns to lead South Mountains State Park

More than a quarter-century ago, in the summer of 1998, Lance Huss worked as a seasonal maintenance worker at South Mountains State Park.

The work was hard, hot, and physical, but the Drexel native, who was a student at Montreat College in Black Mountain majoring in environmental studies, absolutely loved it.

Today, Huss is the superintendent at South Mountains, at nearly 21,000 acres easily the largest park in the state system. He is tasked not only with supervising the park staff and planning for the park’s future, but also with getting the park open again after the devastation of Hurricane Helene.

“This is such an honor for me,” said Huss of his recent appointment as superintendent. “To have started out as a seasonal worker all those years ago and to now be superintendent, it truly is a dream come true.”

Huss grew up in the Drexel community, attending Drexel Elementary, Drexel Junior High, Heritage Middle, and East Burke High, from which he was graduated in 1997.

Always a lover of all things outdoors, Huss accepted a baseball scholarship at Montreat (he was a third baseman) and entered the Environmental Studies program with the goal of working in the outdoors after college.

That intention led to his hiring, by then-Superintendent Walt Gravley, for three consecutive summers at South Mountains, where he learned a variety of skills and where, “there was never a shortage of work to do.”

After his graduation from Montreat in 2002, Huss entered the 19-week training program to become certified as a Wildlife Enforcement Officer. After completing both that training and six months of field training, he was stationed first in Lenoir County and then in Stanly County.

In October of 2006, he returned to South Mountains as a Park Ranger I, logging a dozen years in the park. In late 2018, he returned to employment as a Wildlife Enforcement Officer, working in Catawba, Lincoln, and Gaston counties, before transferring to Burke County in February of 2022.

And, on Dec. 9, 2024, just a little over 10 weeks after Helene struck, Huss decided to come “home” and accepted the position of superintendent at South Mountains.

The superintendent’s residence in the park is currently under renovation, but Huss, his wife, and their two young sons will be moving in when that work is completed.

As superintendent, Huss is responsible for the supervision of a staff of seven rangers, three maintenance-construction workers, and an administrative assistant.

It is also his responsibility to decide project priorities.

Even without the intrusion of Helene, managing South Mountains would be a challenge for any superintendent.

As noted, it is the largest park in the state system, meaning that there are 60 miles of park boundary to patrol and 55 miles of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails to maintain.

“Compared to other parks in the state, the trail infrastructure is massive,” Huss said.

The park is also divided into two sections separated by a towering mountain ridge containing the tallest peaks in the park — the developed Jacob Fork section and the still largely undeveloped Clear Creek section.

The steepness of that dividing ridge means there will never be a long hiking trail linking the two sections of the park, Huss said. “The steepness of that grade means construction of a trail is simply not feasible if we stay on park property.”

The state has also scaled back its plans to build an education center, a campground, and additional trails at Clear Creek, Huss said. Instead, those plans currently include only a larger parking area and permanent restrooms.

Despite the daunting tasks in front of him, Huss said he enjoys what he does.

“The diversity of the job is very satisfying,” he said. “There are so many opportunities to improve the park. The job is very interesting every day and it certainly can be fun.”