Carolina Thread Trail brings back National Trails Day

You’ll want to beat a path to the Carolina Thread Trail at Tuckaseege Park in Mount Holly!

The Carolina Thread Trail will bring back its annual National Trails Day celebration on Saturday, June 5, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., with an increased focus on safety and social distancing efforts. National Trails Day is a great way to kick off the summer and safely enjoy the outdoors. The local observance will be held at Tuckaseege Park and its adjacent Catawba Riverfront Greenway.

This free, family-friendly community day will feature outdoor activities for small groups, including guided nature and history walks, stand-up paddleboard instruction, paddleboard and kayak rentals for paddling on the Catawba River and bike rentals and greenway tours, as well as outdoor lifestyle exhibitors and farmers’ and artists’ markets. These small group activities will allow people to be a part of the celebration and enjoy outdoor recreation in a beautiful setting, whilst also staying safe, and it will reduce the opportunity for large crowds. The expansive park offers playgrounds, a dog park, a skateboard park, shaded picnic areas and a path encircling the park that connects to the Catawba Riverfront Greenway. Live music and food and beverage vendors will be available at the event. Advanced registration is required in order to manage event capacity. Masks will be required for attendees, in line with Stateimposed regulations and CDC guidelines, according to Bret Baronak, the Carolina Thread Trail’s director.

“As Carolinians have increasingly turned to the outdoors during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever to support trails and outdoor recreation,” said Baronak. “Over the last year, the Thread Trail and its 88 community partners have worked to keep trails open and inviting for recreation and respite during a very challenging time. We are excited to bring people together again safely to celebrate trails at this event.”

The Catawba Riverfront Greenway is a 1.5-mile segment of paved greenway that is part of the Carolina Thread Trail, connecting the park to the Mount Holly Municipal Complex. There will be a volunteer project open to the public before the event begins; its purpose is to help improve the native habitat by removing invasive plants within the park. This event is presented by Duke Energy and co-hosted with the City of Mount Holly. To learn more, check out the Website at www.carolinathreadtrail.org/ntd.

More about National Trails Day and the Thread Trail

The American Hiking Society’s National Trails Day is the largest celebration of trails in the country, occurring annually on the first Saturday in June. It inspires the public to discover, learn about and celebrate trails while participating in outdoor activities, clinics and trail stewardship projects. To learn more, hike on over to the Website at www.nationaltrailsday.org.

And the Carolina Thread Trail is a 15-county, two-state initiative designed to create a regional network of trails, blue ways (trails along lakes and rivers) and conservation corridors that will link more than 2.9 million people. With technical resources and catalyst funding from the Thread Trail, local communities are planning and implementing their portions of this greenway system.

The Carolina Thread Trail region includes Anson, Cabarrus, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Stanly and Union counties within North Carolina and Cherokee, Chester, Lancaster and York counties in South Carolina. The Catawba Lands Conservancy is the lead agency for the Thread Trail, and it is working in partnership with Foundation for the Carolinas and many other local partners as well. There are currently more than 300 miles of Thread Trail open to the public. For more information, consult the Website at www.carolinathreadtrail.org.

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Jennifer Clark, Carolina Thread Trail

Photographs courtesy of Carolina Thread Trail