Client: Pisgah Area SORBA / City of Asheville, North Carolina
Location: Asheville, NC
The City of Asheville recently developed a new initiative called Asheville Unpaved where they are seeking to develop natural surface recreation opportunities for residents and visitors. To accomplish this, the city partnered with local trail advocates from Pisgah Area SORBA (PAS) to help design and deliver the project under their non-profit sanction and mission. PAS went through a competitive bid process and ultimately selected Nature Trails as their preferred contractor due to thoughtful design, clear direction, and successful completion of previous contract work on Avery Creek, Buckwheat Knob, and Black Mountain trails.
Nature Trails approached the project with a goal of getting more kids on bike first and foremost. To accomplish this, we design a two loop system where the first catered to beginners and the second formed a progression of similar obstacles for intermediate riders. We kept the budget tight by incorporating salvaged materials destined for the local landfill such as damage reinforced concrete pipe (RCP) and worn old wheel loader tires from the local quarry. In addition, the locally quarry was very supportive of the project and donated over 60 tons of large boulders for the creation of skills obstacles. To further reduce the skills trail impact as much as possible, all timber was locally harvested and rough sawn locally. This project has been very well received by the local community and the City of Asheville is already looking at new locations for similar additions at other parks!