Haw River Trail
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The Haw River Trail is a planned 70-mile long multi-use trail through the North Carolina Piedmont. The trail follows the path of the Haw River from Haw River State Park on the Rockingham/Guilford County line to Jordan Lake State Recreation Area.
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[edit] The Haw River Land Trail
Surface trails for hiking, mountain biking, birdwatching, nature lovers, and horseriding are planned for the some or all of the Haw River Trail. For over a third of the stretch of the Haw River Trail, from Haw River State Park (Guilford/Rockingham County) to the confluence with Cane Creek (Alamance County), the Haw River Trail will combine with the statewide North Carolina Mountains to Sea Trail. The Mountains to Sea Trail[1] begins at Clingsman’s Dome on the State’s western border and terminates at Jockey’s Ridge on the Outer Banks. The M2S trail was recently re-routed to follow the Haw, with the input of Alan de Hart and 30 others under the direction of State Trails Director Darrell MacBane[2]. Currently, over 10 miles of ground trail in locations including Haw River State Park, Swepsonville River Park, Jordan Lake State Recreation Area and the newly acquired Glencoe to Carolina Mill segment (Burlington).
[edit] The Haw River Paddle Trail
The Haw River Paddle Trail is a part of the Haw River Trail providing access to canoers and kayakers.
The Paddle Trail has 7 official access sites in Alamance and Chatham County counties. The first access was opened by the City of Graham in October, 2000. Other informal access sites have been used by paddlers for some time, but have yet to be adopted by a town or non-profit for continued maintenance. A map of the official accesses is available at www.thehaw.org[3].
[edit] Haw River Trail Conservation Efforts
The Haw River Trail is unique in that it is combining recreation and conservation goals into one effort. The Haw River Trail governmental partnership promotes the idea that the Haw River Trail boosts conservation efforts by increasing public awareness for the river and building a consensus for conservation. Simultaneously, the conservation work on the Haw River provides a protected landscape for the Haw River Trail. As of January, 2008, the HRT Governmental Partnership has conserved over 60 acres of riverside property and 7400 linear feet of riverbank since 2006.
[edit] Who is building the trails?
The concept and drive behind the Haw River Trail are the product of the vision and hard work of local citizens, organizations and governments dating back more than a decade. In 2006, those efforts resulted in an innovative agreement in which 10 governmental agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding agreeing to work together for the development of the Haw River Trail and the conservation of its land and waters. Two coordinator positions are also funded through this Memorandum of Understanding to further conservation and recreation efforts on the Haw River. One position is funded by the cities of Burlington and Graham, Alamance County and Elon University in partnership with the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. A similar position was funded by the State of North Carolina’s Clean Water Management Trust Fund to study future efforts on the Lower Haw River.
