Healthy Buncombe
The Eat Smart Move More Coalition
Walking
Quality Forward Walking Guide
Quality Forward has a great walking guide with maps of local walking trails and information on safety and the health benefits of walking. Download it here.
The guide includes maps to these great trails in the area:
Riverside Cemetery, Urban Trail, Lake Louise, UNCA’s Botanical Gardens & Weaver Blvd., Kimberly Ave. & Griffing Blvd. Rose Garden, Beaver Lake & Bird Sanctuary, Big Ivy Community Club, Lake Tomahawk, Charles D. Owen Park, Warren Wilson College Trails, Lake Julian, Swannanoa River Greenway, Thompson St., Bent Creek Experimental Forest, the North Carolina Arboretum and Bent Creek Park & Garden, Buncombe County Sports Park, French Broad River Parks, Malvern Hills Park, Leicester Elementary School
If you would like to request a guide, contact Quality Forward at 828.254.1776 or stop by their office at 29 Page Avenue, across from the Grove Arcade in downtown Asheville.
For more info on the Quality Forward organization, what they do and how you can help, go to qualityforward.org.
Trails and Walks
If you have info about a new trail or walking area, send it to us at Terri.March@Buncombecounty.org
Asheville Arboretum
www.ncarboretum.org/Horticulture/trails.htm
The North Carolina Arboretum is a 426-acre public garden located within the Bent Creek Research and Demonstration Forest of the Pisgah National Forest. Surrounded by the dense folds of the botanically diverse Southern Appalachian Mountains, the Arboretum is nestled in one of the most beautiful natural garden settings in America. The Arboretum also maintains 10 miles of hiking and biking trails with emergency call boxes. Public Safety staff patrol the Arboretum grounds 7 days a week, year round, except Christmas Day. A parking fee of $6.00 per car is charged.
Asheville Botanical Gardens
www.ashevillebotanicalgardens.org/aboutus.htm
"A half-mile loop walking trail leads visitors across streams, through meadows, over a woodland ridge to a wildflower cove. An authentic "dog trot" cabin provides shelter midway, along with an appreciation of how our forebearers lived. The beautiful Wisenblatt Garden which is full of mosses, ferns and something almost always in bloom leads to the Joiner Bird Deck and Sensory Garden."
WNC Nature Center
The Trillium Glen Nature Trail is 2/3 of a mile and takes about 30 minutes to an hour to walk. You will experience a typical low elevation Appalachian hardwood forest and a natural streamside habitat along the Swannanoa River. The trail is moderately strenuous and there are rustic steps about halfway along the trail.
Beaver Lake
Beaver Lake is a beautiful area great for walking or strolling in North Asheville. There are two areas at the Lake to consider visiting. As you head north on Merrimon Avenue, past Ingles you will come to the Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary across from the Asheville Country Club Golf Course. The Sanctuary is a small area featuring boardwalks that wind through this wetlands area and provides ample opportunity for viewing birds. The Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society maintains the Sanctuary. Guided walks are held throughout the year on the first Saturday of the month. Walks meet at 8:00 in the Sanctuary parking lot from May-September. The remainder of the year, walks begin at 9:00.
You can also enjoy the walking trail by the lake. The trail is…..in length. The trail only goes partially around the lake, but is long enough, and pleasant enough that doubling back doesn’t seem to be a problem for trail devotees. At any time you are likely to see runners and walkers.
Urban Trail
www.ci.asheville.nc.us/parks/urban.htm
www.justasheville.com/urban.html
Thirty "stations" are highlighted on the trail, each with its own story. The 1.7 mile loop is divided into five distinct themes in the city's social history. Pink granite markers embedded in the sidewalks reflect these themes and provide a way to follow the route of the trail.
Several options for walking the trail – self guided (map/ tape – can be picked up/purchased) Regularly scheduled guided tours, call an arrange for a guided tour
Trail Maps
Find maps for your favorite park or walking trail.
Click on the the to see the close-up map:
Thanks to Quality Forward for the use of their maps. For more info on them go to www.qualityforward.org