The G5 is a nonprofit trail advocacy organization advancing the stewardship needle in western North Carolina. The state's Pisgah National Forest contains three distinct districts - the Pisgah District near Brevard, the Appalachian District north of Asheville, and the Grandfather District, which spans from Old Fort to Blowing Rock and is home to the first tracks of public forest land in the east as well as the steepest escarpment, which Newberry Creek descends.
The Newberry Creek Trail is one component of the G5's comprehensive master plan to create 42 miles of new trail in the Grandfather District of Pisgah National Forest. The trail is currently a hike-only trail that follows a high-elevation watershed on the flanks of Mt. Mitchell, the east's highest peak. Part of the G5's plan includes the USFS re-designating the trail as hike and bike to allow riders to access the classic Heartbreak Ridge, the new Lower Heartbreak, and the yet-to-be-created most difficult trail off Glass Rock Knob. This connection opens a missing link of trails that avoid long gravel fire roads and double-track grinds. The trail follows the creek, and with the sedimentation concerns that come with increased bike traffic, the plan is to reroute parts of the trail for better sustainability.
The G5 has used Newberry Creek to engage specific community members with volunteer work that would result in "skin in the game," a kind of public awareness of trails. People know about the trail, know about trail work, find value in the process, and spread their appreciation of the process to members of their communities, which in turn gets more and more people involved. It's an exponential marketing arrangement - getting the right people to get engaged to get even more people engaged?and it's working. The G5 has created the template for this by hiring a full-time trail director and volunteer coordinator to multiply their impact and bring more and more resources to the trails near Old Fort.
Through a series of conversations, the G5 engaged with corporate members of the bike industry, not for financial support, but for some sweat equity. Fox Factory's Suspension Service Center is located just a few miles away in Fletcher, NC. Our team stepped up for a weekend of labor, camping, and riding for Newberry Creek. The idea here was to establish a connection that would first get the job done but also have the added benefit of a long-term social impact.
"Mountain biking has given me so much over the years," says Brian Chryst, Fox Factory Service Specialist. "Everything from physical and mental wellbeing to shaping my life decisions on where I live and the people I meet. Being a trail volunteer, in my opinion, is just the best way I can repay the trails that have already done so much for me."
"What many don't consider," says Kevin Booth, Service Manager for Fox Factory in Fletcher, "is the fact that you also get to take something for yourself in the form of the pride and ownership that you feel as you get to put a shape to something that you and others will enjoy for a long time. It's a legacy thing. I swear I ride a little better on sections of trail that I've helped to build and maintain."
Important for this trail project is a "new" trail construction style. Under the guidance of G5's Trail Director Jon Lane, the crew learned how to create a narrow, bench-cut trail the same way it would have been done 90 years ago. "It's a lot of work," says Steffen Gronegger, Fox Operations Specialist. "But the culture this is creating is incredible. We're out here, deep in Pisgah, hand building a new trail. There's nothing like it."
The final product of a hand-built trail has a "feel" that's distinct from a machine-built trail. It's a palpable intimacy with the land. At the end of the day, the Fox crew established a new trail that will be a tiny fraction of what is needed to complete G5's goals. However, the measure of trail work isn't linear feet. The measure of a trail is more about creating an experience that inspires a closer connection to the land. This is how to sustain momentum, and it's exactly what is happening all across Pisgah.
Credit to Kristian Jackson who provided the content for this article.
We want to hear about your project. Click below to learn more and to see if you qualify for a Trail Trust grant.
Apply
Instagram