Continued Trail Development and the enhancement of existing trails will allow us to promote regional hiking and canoe trail tourism and sponsor large events associated with trail usage.

Friends and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers partners with the following groups to work on trail development: Brushy Mountain Cyclists Club; National Park Service; Tourism Development Association; Wilkes County Historical Society; North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources: Division of Parks and Recreation.

An upcoming trails project involves the following three specific parts and is designed to provide connectivity to established National Trails on Kerr Scott Reservoir. Part 1 involves the building of a parking lot and ½ mile long connector trail to increase access and parking to the existing National Overmountain Trail. Part 2 involves the building a ½ mile connector trail that would link two nationally designated trails, The Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail (OVT) and the Dark Mountain National Recreational Trail; Part 3 will provide for two trail extensions that will connect a currently isolated 3.5 mile section of the OVT trail located within Warrior Creek Park. An east and west extension from Warrior Creek Park will connect with the currently designated OVT Motor/Pedestrian route located on NC Hwy 268 (also designated a North Carolina Scenic Byway). These two OVT extensions will set the stage for future connectivity to the Buffalo Cove Section of the OVT in neighboring Caldwell County Trail System (scheduled for future development in Caldwell County’s recently completed Land Use Master Plan). The trail extension will follow the government boundary line along the beautiful lakeshore of W. Kerr Scott Lake and along the Yadkin River throughout its total 3 mile extension length. These trail improvements will also serve to promote access for river recreation enthusiasts such as canoeists and anglers the year around. Several canoe outfitter firms operate in this area.

The objective of this project is to establish connectivity and accessibility to currently isolated sections of the National Overmountain Victory Trail and designated USA National Recreation Trails located on w. Kerr Scott Reservoir. These improvements will directly benefit a wide array of outdoor recreation opportunities including hiking, camping, boating, river canoeing, picnicking, fishing, nature study and wildlife observation.