Mountains-to-Sea Trail Meeting Here Tonight

NC Department of Tranportation planners will join local planners and other officials here tonight for an "Informational Meeting" to outline progress on the section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail that winds through Johnston County near Clayton.

The meeting will be held at the Clayton Center from 5 to 7 pm. Residents are invited to drop in at any time during the two-hour span to speak with planners, review documents and maps and provide their input.

Plans call for the Trail to wind along the Neuse River near town.

In addition, a Mountain-to-Sea Celebration and Art Exhibit is scheduled for Oct. 18 from 2 to 5 pm at the Portofino development on US 42 East. Information on the Trail will be available, and local artists will display and sell art work inspired by the trail. Tours will also be offered along existing trails by the river.

Local officials, including Planning Director James “Skip” Browder, have been hard at work for more than a year, putting together the section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail that runs through Clayton and Johnston County. The town already owns a lot of land along the Neuse River that would be perfect for the trail, and some has been set aside for greenway purposes by area developers. There's a lot more to do, but Browder is hopeful that the section of the trail that comes through this area can be ready to go within a year or so.

Greenways that would allow residents to safely walk across Clayton have long been part of the planning process here. The Mountains-to-Sea Trail will fit right in, Browder said, though the Trail will require additional land.

The 1,000 miles of paths and bike trails will wind from Clingman's Dome in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park to Jockey's Ridge State Park at the Atlantic Ocean. It wanders through 37 counties, three national parks, two national forests, several state parks, two national wildlife refuges, two wilderness areas, a number of swamps, several major rivers, and hundreds of lakes. The mainline distance is between 935 and 945 miles, but with ferry rides, spur trails to scenic overlooks and side trails to campsites, the actual journey will fall just short of 1,000 miles.

Spurred on by volunteers who spend weekends clearing the way, the Trail, a dream that began in the 1970s, is nearly half completed.