Middle Fork Greenway

Connecting Boone to neighbors through nature

BY JILLYAN MOBLEY

The Middle Fork Greenway is just one of the many reasons why Blowing Rock is so special and how the town helps the community connect with neighbors through nature.

Major progress has been made on the long anticipated Middle Fork Greenway that will connect Blowing Rock and Boone along one of the most popular rivers in the High Country.

According to the Blue Ridge Conservancy, The Middle Fork Greenway will be about six and a half miles connecting to the already existing Boone Greenway, creating more than 15 miles of contiguous trail. With the majority of the trail being a 10-foot wide asphalt path, some other locations will be slightly less wide at six to eight feet and made of natural surface trail to preserve and protect topography and the trout stream.

The trail will connect the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Mountain-to-Sea trail, Shoppes on the Parkway, Tweetsie Railroad, Mystery Hill, the hospital and three pocket parks, according to

Blue Ridge Conservancy. A group of volunteers began conversations about the Middle Fork Greenway in the mid-1990s, said Wendy Patoprsty, Director of the Middle Fork Greenway. A feasibility study was conducted with several App State professors following the initial conversation. Then, more than a decade later in 2012, another feasibility study was done and then another this past year, Patoprsty said.

Patoprsty said the concept for the greenway was a “big picture” for a long time, but nothing can happen until the “fine tuning” happens. From the 1990s til today, a lot of progress has been made, especially in the last seven years since the Blue Ridge Conservancy got involved.

Blue Ridge Conservancy began working with the NC Department of Transportation who funded the most recent feasibility study and found it was possible to connect Boone and Blowing Rock with this trail, Patoprsty said. So they began “diving into it inch by inch.”

Patoprsty said the conservancy has acquired about 85 acres from Boone to Blowing Rock along the Middle Fork River with the intention of people “coming out and connecting with the river, learning about the river, learning about our

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 38 ecosystems and being a part of the environment that’s here.”

When creating trails, there are a lot of obstacles, Patoprsty said. Acquiring land from private land owners, working with the National Parks Service, approving grants through two town municipalities, requesting land access from Watauga County and applying for public grants while collecting private donations are just some of the steps needed to complete each portion of trail, Patoprsty said. Through hard work and a lot of collaboration, just under two miles of the trail has been completed and additional mileage is in progress. Completed portions of the trail are open to the public and accessible through the US Hwy 321 Trailhead.