January 2012

Future Extension of Dunn-Erwin Trail

Over the past few months our Exec. Director has been busy with groups in Harnett County interested in creating a 1.5 mile connector trail between the Erwin end of the Dunn-Erwin Rail-Trail and the Cape Fear River Park Trail (a 1 mile trail). This would create 7.5 miles of contiguous trail and connect Dunn and Erwin to the Cape Fear River. The ~16 acre Cape Fear River Park was bought by Harnett County with funds from the Parks & Recreation Trust Fund and is used regularly by walkers, fisherman and canoeists. Bringing the two trails together will increase the usage of both trails and connect the rail-trail to much needed amenities such as a bathroom, picnic tables and a parking lot. On January 24th NCRT facilitated a public meeting in Erwin to gather public input on the proposal and present drawings of the proposed layout. The proposal was well received by the 38 attending, all of whom were trail users. Currently NCRT is working with Erwin in the preparation of applications for a Recreational Trails Program grant (for construction) and an Adopt-A-Trail grant for signage. Funding for this connector trail depends on the results of these pending applications and other sources so at this time there are no firm dates for the project. We'll be reporting on this again here and on our Facebook page as news develops.