Trails we’ve worked on in the past month:
- Buckhorn Gap trail
- Mullinax trail
- Exercise trail
- Cat Gap Loop trail
Trail Crew highlights
After a break for the holidays, the TPC Trail Crew is back at it. The month began with the crew completing an extended project on Buckhorn Gap trail.
The crew kicked of the new year by repairing a section of severely entrenched trail above its junction with Twin Falls and constructing 25 reverse grade dips to ensure proper drainage and protect against future entrenchment.
After a day of clearing over 80 drains on Mullinax trail, we then moved on to the Exercise trail beside Davidson River Campground.
In this location, waters from Helene had caused significant damage to two sections of the trail, with one short section completely gone from a slide.
We completed a 105-foot trail relocation, constructing turnpike to replace the destroyed section of trail.
We also widened and cribbed a 30-foot section of trail beside the river, installed boulders and signage to guide users along the new trail alignment, and brushed out almost 1 mile of the trail along its border with Davidson River Campground.
With this trail repair project complete, the crew will be working on replacing a 40-foot-long trail bridge on Cat Gap Loop that is approaching the end of its useful life, and preparing for construction of a stone paved trail connecting the Davidson River pedestrian bridge to the upcoming sidewalk at the Forest entrance.
Invasive Plant Management Crew highlights
Continued treatments at Davidson River Campground
Our Invasive Plant Management (IPM) Crew has been continuing with their initial treatment of Davidson River Campground, working hard and taking advantage of the current campground closure to address some pretty nasty infestations of non-native invasive plants.
This project will be our main focus in the coming months as we aim to complete an initial treatment of the area. Work will then continue in the coming years, but with less frequency as we start to get the infestations under more long-term control.
Live staking along the Davidson River
In addition to our work at Davidson River Campground, the crew has jumped into the live-staking season with verve.
Cold weather is crucial for live-staking, so January and February are key months to get some stakes in the ground to begin restoring native vegetation to blown-out streambanks, landslides, and other areas in need of revegetation.
We recently hosted a live-staking workshop in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, and the Pisgah Chapter of Trout Unlimited.
We planted 400 live stakes at Sycamore Flats and along the Davidson River near the Fish Hatchery. Some of the species planted include Elderberry, Silky Dogwood, Black Willow, and Nine Bark.
We will also be teaming up with Trout Unlimited for 4 additional planting workdays in the coming month focused on locations on Avery Creek, Catheys Creek, Thrift Cove, and Yellowstone Prong at Graveyard Fields.
Our goal is to get over 1,000 live stakes in the ground this winter, and we are well on our way to meeting that goal!
Pisgah River Rangers updates
Preparations for the 2026 Pisgah River Rangers season are officially underway.
We are thrilled to share that our 2025 Lead River Ranger, Hailey Dansby, is returning for the 2026 season!
She’s already working hard to plan this season’s programming, interview candidates for the Pisgah River Rangers intern positions, and more.
We are glad to have her back and we are looking forward to the eighth season of our Pisgah River Rangers program.
Volunteer opportunities with TPC
Many thanks to the volunteers who joined us for workdays this past month! If you’d like to work alongside our crew to give back to Pisgah, we have several upcoming volunteer opportunities you can sign up for today.
Wednesday 1/28 – Invasive Plant Removal at Davidson River Campground
Monday 2/2 – Trash Cleanup in Balsam Grove
Wednesday 2/18 – Invasive Plant Removal at Davidson River Campground
Saturday 2/21 – Trail Maintenance on Sycamore Cove
Wednesday 3/4 – Invasive Plant Removal at Davidson River Campground
Wednesday 3/18 – Invasive Plant Removal at Davidson River Campground
For details and registration, please visit the Events page on our website.
And don’t forget to mark your calendar for Pisgah Project Day – the largest volunteer day in the forest – on Saturday, April 25th. Volunteer registration will open in mid-March. Visit the Pisgah Project Day page on our website for more information.