The Estatoe trail is a crucial connector for Pisgah, joining Brevard’s greenway, the final stretch of the Art Loeb hiking trail, the popular “front-range” mountain bike trails, and Davidson River Campground. Hurricane Helene pushed the Davidson River’s waters over the banks, depositing significant amounts of sand and displacing rock fill from a number of trail sections.
On this workday, volunteers worked alongside our Trails and Recreation Technician to:
- Grade out the knee-high sand dunes with hand tools
- Recover ballast stone that was washed out of place by high water and return it to its rightful place in the trail tread
The majority of the Estatoe’s trail tread is turnpike (a trail construction technique that elevates the trail surface above wet ground using logs or other materials). Turnpike creates a dry and stable path that reduces negative impacts to the resource when traversing flat floodplains that offer very little opportunity for drainage.
After the workday’s completion, 250 feet of trail had been returned to a safe and efficiently usable state.
