Press release from The Pisgah Conservancy:
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Tuesday, April 8th to celebrate the restoration and reconstruction of the Estatoe Trail. The Pisgah Conservancy hosted the event with the U.S. Forest Service, project partners, and community supporters.
The Estatoe Trail connects the Brevard Greenway to the Pisgah Ranger District’s 400+ mile trail system, providing access to the Art Loeb Trail, Davidson River Campground, Black Mountain Trail Complex, and other forest trails and recreation sites.
The project included construction of six fiberglass bridges, one lumber bridge, and 469 feet of elevated trail tread, known as turnpike. The improvements will provide a more sustainable, long-term solution to the trail’s consistently wet conditions, which created rot and safety issues on the lumber boardwalks originally constructed in 2008.
“For me, the Estatoe Trail is my gateway to Pisgah. As an avid cyclist, I use the trail multiple times a week, so I really appreciate how it keeps me from having to ride up 276. As one of the few flat trails around, and being super scenic, I always see a wide variety of users. The new trail work has a double benefit as it is less maintenance intensive, but also more user friendly to a wider group of people,” says Allen McMurtry, Board Director of The Pisgah Conservancy.
Work began on the project at the 2024 Pisgah Project Day. Volunteers worked alongside The Pisgah Conservancy’s professional trail crew to dismantle boardwalks, move gravel, and construct turnpikes. Over the next several months, the crew continued the project while simultaneously addressing other trail work needs throughout Pisgah. The Pisgah Conservancy’s trail crew is the only full-time crew fully dedicated to working in the forest. The completion of the Estatoe Trail project marks one of their largest accomplishments to date.
“The Estatoe is a vital and heavily used trail for the forest. Before we started the overhaul, it was starting to get hazardous to use due to the rotten boardwalks. This project was a bit daunting, due to the considerable linear footage of the boardwalk we were going to be overhauling. Upon successful completion of this project, we learned that our team is more than capable of taking on large scale projects. I am excited for us to take on even bigger projects in the future,” says Michael Bagwell, Trail Crew Leader for The Pisgah Conservancy.
Support for the Estatoe Trail project was provided by the Transylvania County Tourism Development Authority, the Glass Foundation, Vulcan Materials, the City of Brevard, and donors to The Pisgah Conservancy
The Pisgah Conservancy is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) whose mission is to work in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service to provide key resources for the benefit of Pisgah and its visitors for generations to come. For more information, visit www.pisgahconservancy.org.
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