Scenic reroute of Mountains-to-Sea Trail offers Linville Gorge views

Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail have officially celebrated the opening of a new trail reroute in the Linville Gorge near Table Rock.

The new trail section was officially opened on Tuesday, April 29.

The original MST route in this area was horribly eroded and unmaintainable, which necessitated the need for a reroute of the trail.

Not only is the newly-built trail more sustainable, MST officials said, it also opens up tremendous views of Linville Gorge that hikers would have previously missed.

Friends of the MST’s Brent Laurenz and Betsy Brown were joined at the opening hike by members of the U.S. Forest Service, N.C. State Parks, and Wild South, which was the primary sponsor for the trail reroute.

Due to the remote and rugged location of the reroute, a professional trail crew was brought in through Wild South to handle the more difficult stages of the trail building process.

This steep area is recovering from a 2013 fire, now dense with new growth pines, that proved it a very challenging work zone.

Friends of the MST’s dedicated volunteer crew in the area, led by Doug Veazey, were also instrumental in seeing the trail through to completion and several members of the volunteer group were present for the opening hike as well.

The entire project was a team effort from start to finish, once again highlighting how the MST is only possible thanks to our partners and volunteers across the state, officials said.

Funding for the project came from the Complete the Trails Program, which was created by the state in 2021 as the result of historic legislation that provides an unprecedented level of funding for the planning, construction, promotion and maintenance of state trails in North Carolina.

Friends of the MST is thankful for the state’s recognition of the importance of state funding for trails across North Carolina, and this project is a good example of that funding in action.

And Friends of the MST are so thankful to all the volunteers and partners that brought this new trail section to life. MST hikers will benefit from the improvements for years to come.