Legacy Trails Program Awardee

Dickey Bell Trail Reroute and Bypass

The Dickey Bell Trail (DBT) Construction and Reconstruction/ Reroute Project includes a 0.6 mile reroute of the DBT and the closure of 0.6 mile and revegetation of the existing DBT that goes through a significant prehistoric archaeological site and has a lot of erosion issues. This reroute will be outside of the archaeological site. Additionally, on the southern end of DBT a new bypass trail will be constructed around the hill climb that will offer a safe route for children, novice and intermediate riders and for riders with stock / unmodified vehicles, while still offering the challenge route for riders with modified vehicles and more experience.

Applicant: Friends of Uwharrie
Project Location: Uwharrie Ranger District, Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina
Amount Awarded: $10,000.00

Also, deferred drainage maintenance and improvement will be completed on the hill climb. This will address extensive erosion from the hill climb and reduce further illegal trails being created along the hill climb. Trail maintenance & drainage repair & installation of new barricades will be done on the 0.2-mile hill climb to contain the challenge route & to control erosion. There are 4 unauthorized trails along the hill climb for a total of 0.8 mile of unauthorized miles. We have installed barricades many times over the years with FS employees and volunteers but they keep getting pulled down as we are only able to get in there with gas powered hand augers. It is a rocky area and it is difficult to get the guardrail posts very deep so they've been pulled down several times. By having the contractor do the installation of guardrail posts and being able to dig the holes deeper with equipment and cement them into the ground the barricades should stay in place a lot longer to control illegal creation of bypass trails. Additionally, by providing the bypass route around the hill climb the FS will be able to offer a safe alternative route for people to use to continue on the trail and stop them feeling they need to create unauthorized routes to get around the hill climb.

This project would be completed with the FS contractor completing the work using the Recreation Trail Program (RTP) Grant that the Uwharrie NF received from the NC Department of Parks and Recreation. We are working with the Uwharrie NF to purchase materials and supplies for their contractor to use for this project. This way with the increase in contracting and materials costs we would be able to help complete this project.

This project is in the Uwharrie River Watershed and it flows into the Yadkin-Pee Dee River Watershed at Lake Tillery. The Yadkin-Pee Dee River Watershed is used for hydroelectric power generation and municipal water for millions of residents in North Carolina and South Carolina. Any decrease in sedimentation is helpful to the overall watershed. The following aquatic species of concern would have their habitat and potentially individuals positively impacted by this project by an overall decrease in erosion and sedimentation entering into the Uwharrie River by decreasing the impacts to several intermittent and perennial tributaries to the river. The species in this area are the following: Federally Threatened Atlantic Pigtoe Mussel and several species of Locally Rare / Sensitive mussel or mollusk species that have been documented in the Uwharrie River are the Notched Rainbow Mussel, Eastern Lampmussel, Eastern Creekshell, Roanoke Slabshell, Carolina Creekshell, and Green Floater Mussel.