Hickory Nut Gorge State Trail is a unit of the North Carolina state park system in Rutherford, Buncombe, and

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * H ...

Counties,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The State Trail is planned as a continuous loop for

hikers Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Hist ...

around

Hickory Nut Gorge Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mexi ...

. The trail is a collaboration between Conserving Carolina , a regional conservation organization, and the state, with development coordinated by the

North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation The State of North Carolina has a group of protected areas known as the North Carolina State Park System, which is managed by the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation (NCDPR), an agency of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cu ...

(NCDPR) and Conserving Carolina.

History

In 2005, the

General Assembly of North Carolina The North Carolina General Assembly is the bicameral legislature of the State government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets in the North Carolina ...

established ''Hickory Nut Gorge State Park'' near the Town of

Lake Lure Lake Lure is a town in Rutherford County, North Carolina, United States. In 2020 the town population was 1,634. Lake Lure was incorporated in 1927, and acquired the lake after which it is named in 1965. History In 1902, Dr. Lucius B. Morse and ...

. Later that year, the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy (now named Conserving Carolina) and

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nat ...

assisted the state with the first acquisition of land for the park. In 2007, the privately owned Chimney Rock Park was purchased by the state as an expansion for the park, and Hickory Nut Gorge State Park was renamed Chimney Rock State Park as a result. During the master planning process for Chimney Rock State Park in 2011, a regional hiking trail network was proposed which would connect the various tracts of state park land, local parks and would loop around Lake Lure. On June 15, 2015, the General Assembly formalized the proposed trail network by establishing Hickory Nut Gorge State Trail, and directed NCDPR to coordinate its development. Conserving Carolina envisions a 100+ mile network of connected trails in the Hickory Nut Gorge. As of 2023, the organization had opened more than 38 miles of the trail to the public and had several trail expansions under development.

References

External links

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Chimney Rock State Park Master Plan

Vision for a 130+ Mile Trail Network

Ambitious Hickory Nut Gorge State Trail to link Fairview with Chimney Rock and Lake Lure

Hickory Nut Gorge Wildcat Rock Trail wins national award

New WNC trail wins national award
State parks of North Carolina Protected areas of Buncombe County, North Carolina Protected areas of Henderson County, North Carolina Protected areas of Rutherford County, North Carolina Protected areas established in 2017 Hiking trails in North Carolina 2017 establishments in North Carolina {{NorthCarolina-protected-area-stub