By ANA RISANO
Staff Writer
Planning for the first equine-focused State Trail is underway, drawing excited feedback from a local community of horse enthusiasts interested in new paths and supporting the process.
The trail is envisioned to loop through eight counties, including Chatham, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Lee, Montgomery, Moore and Richmond — covering about 350 miles. The General Assembly established it as the 14th State Trail in 2023.
The state Division of Parks and Recreation is seeking input on the trail, which is estimated to take a couple decades to complete. This early step includes looking at possible amenities, like campsites, along the trail and connections to local trails.
The shared proposed plan marks a 5- to 10-mile wide corridor for the trail to give an idea of the flow. There are opportunities for it to connect Jordan Lake State Recreation Area, Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, Carvers Creek State Park and Raven Rock State Park.
In June, an open house was held at the Weymouth Woods visitor center with easels showing the proposed plans and state officials there to answer questions. It also directed the community to an online survey.
The Moore County section of the trail is planned to be around 25 miles, which could connect with Weymouth Woods, Sandhills Gamelands, the Walthour-Moss Foundation and Three Rivers Land Trust conservation areas.
Brian Strong, director of the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation, attended the open house. He said this trail would be the largest, connected horse trail in the state.
“Connectivity between multiple units is a bit unusual, so this is a really exciting concept,” Strong said.
Barbara Oslund, with the NC Horse Council, said central North Carolina is a fitting place for the trail, given the strong equine communities in the area. While this is an early step in the planning process, she said future work will include designating trail locations on public lands and through private partnerships.
Oslund owns two horses, a friesian morgan named Bella and a morgan named Redbud. She mainly trail rides, saying a good day for her involves at least 8 miles on the trail. She has also driven carriages.
“I’m really keen to make parts of it accessible to carriage driving as well,” Oslund said. “I know there are a lot of people here who do that. I used to do that.”
Several carriage drivers attended the open house, many of whom participate in the annual Carriage Parade through Southern Pines.
“We are always looking for more carriage trails and access to driving,” said resident Keady Cadwell. “You can’t just go on a little single trail like a rider can go on.”
Cadwell said she mostly drives pairs, meaning a carriage pulled by two horses, but sometimes four-in-hand, or four horses. Having driven all over the world, she said some of the best carriage driving can be found locally.
Resident Sharon Granito agreed. She and her husband, James, also drive carriages. She emphasized the importance of having safe areas to drive, like the trail along Connecticut Avenue that’s a part of Weymouth Woods.
“The hope is we can continue more trails through this park that can connect up to other carriage trails. You can’t turn around on a trail this big,” Granito said, gesturing to a narrow trail, “so a loop is needed with good footing and maintenance.”
James Granito has helped build and now helps maintain several trails in the area for the horse community. He’s been driving horses for roughly 50 years. He was previously in charge of trail maintenance at the Walthour-Moss Foundation and served on the nonprofit’s board for more than 10 years.
Granito noted a characteristic of the local equestrian community is a willingness to volunteer time or donate money to help with the upkeep of trails.
“We all have to help the community,” Granito said. “This is a community effort.”
David Head, deputy director of Planning and Recreational Resources with the state parks, said he’s heard a lot of excitement from attendees about the trail, including a question of “what the community here can do to help move it forward.”
“As we get into more detailed planning in this area, I think the community here will be a real benefit to trying to figure where a trail might be able to go, what stakeholders we should bring in and talk to, those kinds of things, which is great.”
By late June, Head said the state parks had received a tremendous amount of feedback on the trail, with the online survey garnering over 1,700 responses. To take the survey, visit www.trails.nc.gov/eqst-survey.
Contact Ana Risano at (910) 585-6396 or ana@thepilot.com.
