Celebrating Connections: MST from Clingmans Dome to Stone Mountain
By Barbara Morgan
On October 3, there was an important ribbon cutting celebration of the completion of the tunnel by-pass trails on the MST. These trails finally completed the goal of a continuous 300 mile trail from Clingmans Dome to Stone Mountain State Park. Our own Les Love was instrumental in working with the Eastern Band of the Cherokees and with others named below to make it happen. Walt Weber included the new route in his just-released
Trail Profiles & Maps, From Clingmans Dome to Mount Mitchell and Beyond, Edition 3. Les and Bob Beach, Rich Evans, and Stu English were affectionately known as "The Gang" by Walt for helping him with the book. We are greatly indebted to all for their great work.
About the new connection:
Finding a route through the difficult terrain east of the Great Smoky Mountains, around the tunneled sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and through the Qualla Boundary lands of the Eastern Band of the Cherokees proved to be a huge challenge for the Division of Parks and Recreation, the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea State Trail, the Carolina Mountain Club, and other volunteers and conservation partners. In 2016, the Eastern Band of Cherokees agreed to host a section of the trail through reservation lands, removing a large barrier to the connector trail's completion. In June 2018, the Division of Parks and Recreation, the National Park Service's Blue Ridge Parkway and the Carolina Mountain Club collaborated to complete the final seven-mile section of this connection. The designation of this segment of the Mountains-to-Sea State Trail marks the long-awaited completion of a 300-mile continuous trail from Clingmans Dome in Great Smoky Mountains to Stone Mountain State Park.
|
