Outdoors+Recreation
Launching a legacy: Chestnut Mountain
As Earth Day 2022 bloomed under one of spring’s sunniest skies yet, more than 150 people gathered on a concrete bridge spanning Hominy Creek just outside Canton to celebrate what Mayor Zeb Smathers termed a “gift of genesis” — the long-awaited opening of Chestnut Mountain Nature Park. “Now on one of our main corridors, the entrances to the town and to the west, we are making a statement what our priority is,” Smathers told the crowd. “We are embracing outdoor recreation and tourism and the idea that our natural resources should be preserved and can be used.” Creating the park — 450 acres of land set aside for hiking, biking, picnics, water quality and wildlife habitat — at first seemed an impossible dream for the tiny town of fewer than 5,000 people.
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Following the speaking program this past April, an array of elected officials, conservation workers and philanthropists cut the ribbon on Chestnut Mountain, marking the official opening of the project’s first phase. This includes the mountain biking skills course at Berm Park and a 0.6-mile hiking/biking trail that climbs 350 feet to connect the gateway and pedestrian bridge to what will become the park’s main trailhead. While hikers and bikers will use the same path to ascend the mountain, a dedi-
cated descent trail for bikers aims to prevent conflicts and accidents. Featuring five trails of varying difficulties, Berm Park is the brainchild of Asheville resident Seth Alvo, whose YouTube channel Berm Peak has 2.4 million subscribers. He raised $250,000 to design and build the park, with Asheville-based Elevated Trail Design completing the project. Analogous to runs at a downhill ski resort, the short trails at Berm Park provide a variety of obstacles and trick opportunities, with riders doing multiple loops of the course on each visit. When Alvo set out to build a free public bike park, he didn’t picture doing it in Canton. But, Pisgah Area SORBA suggested he contact the town, and an enthusiastic reception from then Assistant Town Manager Nick Scheuer, who has since been promoted to town manager, made it clear that Canton was the right place. While Alvo’s supporters paid for Berm Park’s development, SAHC paid for the land — a total project cost of $3.52 million. The land trust had to Seth Alvo take out a loan to complete the transaction, but as of last week, it had finished raising the money to pay it off and transferred the deed to the Town of Canton. Large contributions from Brad and Shelli Stanback and the N.C. Land and Water Fund, along with funding from the Pigeon River Fund, the Conservation Trust for North Carolina, the N.C. Department of Justice, the Town of Canton and individual donors made that possible. Once complete, Chestnut Mountain will be much more than a mountain biking park and ascent trail. The project has, to date, landed $860,000 in grants for creek restoration, trails, signage and other recreation amenities. With that money, said Scheuer, the town will build trails, treehouse-style overlooks, a picnic pavilion, a kids’ bicycle playground, creek access and more. The project’s biggest award so far was $500,000 from the N.C. Parks and Recre-
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