Mission 18 · Blue Ridge Parkway, NC

Linville Falls site plan

Blue Ridge Parkway

The agency files it as “Linville Falls Site Plan”

Timing

The agency stopped taking comments on September 30. What you find still counts: it backs the formal objections from people who did comment, it goes to the lawyers on the fight, and it is the story.

The sentence we think is wrong

“Evaluate and address existing unauthorized social trails”

The agency wrote that in its own document, under Draft Site Concepts. Nobody has been out to check it. A dated photograph either backs it up or ends it.

How you settle it

Walk the main trail from the Linville Falls trailhead toward the falls viewpoints on the west side of the river. Photograph every worn side path people have made off the official trail. Photos of beaten-down side paths leaving the main trail, with bare soil or broken plants, or clear photos showing none exist.

The decision

The National Park Service is developing a site plan for the Linville Falls area of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and they're inviting the public to weigh in during an open comment period. This plan will shape how the popular Linville Falls recreation area is managed, developed, and maintained going forward. Visitors, nearby residents, and conservation advocates all have a stake in how this iconic destin

Read the whole thing, and write to the agency about it

How to record it so it counts

01Photograph the route where it leaves a road or trailhead, including any sign or the lack of one.
02Photograph the worn path itself with your boot or a pole laid across it, so the width shows.
03Photograph any evidence of use or non-use: tracks, tire marks, litter, cut logs, or brush and fallen trees across it.
04Sit at the junction for a fixed time you choose (thirty minutes is enough) and count who passes and how: hikers, horses, bikes, motorcycles, ATVs, trucks. Write the count and the times down.
05Write one paragraph on how you know this route, if you do.

What would count

A timed count with the time written down. "Nobody uses it" is an opinion; "zero in thirty minutes on a Saturday at ten" is data.
The width of the worn path, with something in the frame to measure it against.

All of it, with the phone settings, in the field guide

Are you going?

Say yes or no. It tells the next person whether anyone has this ground covered, and it is the only way we know a request was answered rather than just read. You can change your mind any time, and nobody follows up.

Join, then say you’re going

Nobody has answered yet

Before you go

Public land only. Plenty of land inside a national forest or park boundary is privately owned, and that is not yours to walk on. A gate or a closure sign means stop. Check the rules for the specific place you are going, because they differ.
Don’t touch survey stakes, flagging, equipment or anything a crew left. Photograph it; leave it.
Don’t approach crews, contractors or agency staff about the project. Don’t interfere with any operation.
Wildlife at a distance. No drones in wilderness or anywhere they’re prohibited. Stay off closed roads and trails.
If you’re not sure, don’t. Weather, terrain, water, fire and people are your call, and yours alone.

More Than Just Parks doesn’t direct where you go or what you do. Terms.