Find the top rated birding trails in Hickory, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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Beautiful quiet trail especially during the week. The northern part near Gilky is more pastural than the southern half. There is no obvious trail head sign on northern trail entrance so you need to consult your GPS ahead of time to find it. There are no portapottys either on the northern part but if you go about a mile on the trail there is ‘johnny blue’ near the trail. Parking for about 20 cars are at the Gilky entrance.
It's a nice trail flat with good tree coverage. It's a bit more than the 1.9 if you do both sides of the T , My round trip was closer to 5 miles..
I have worked and walked on this trail multiple times. The EVTA has established trail on the old Elkin & Alleghany Railbed. From the downtown old Train Office on Main Street (now a boutique overnight stay accommodation) the trail courses 2.5+ miles one way approximating the original trail by beautiful dam waterfalls, alongside a trout stream, through a park with kids play equipment, view and read a host of multi-modal QR coded history and wildlife signs, a lot of benches along the way, a cool viewing deck over a large dam waterfall, rest stops, bridges of 140-ft and 178-ft, stream restoration projects by the hike, train inspired steel sculptures, gongs for kids and adults to ring, deep in the woods and wildflower meadows, great place to leash-walk your pets (please pick after your pet), very sparse litter if any, good trash system, bathroom at the end of the trail, adding a new 70 foot bridge spring 2019, nice railroad cuts, picnic tables, a 5.5 mile and growing mountain bike and hike trail along side the main trail, on the Mountains to Sea Trail route, etc. Come visit for a very nice walk and imagine the old steam engine chugging along. Enjoy the very friendly community and join the fun of building more trail to come.
We took the dogs for an out and back. 3 miles round trip, along the river. The trail was wet, but it’s obvious the folks here in Elkin are committed to trail development, restoration, and history. Great little spot!
Very pretty trail. Mostly wooded and follows a stream for most of the way. It's just shy of 3 miles round trip. I've heard there may be plans to extend it, hopefully that will happen.
Rode the Thermal Belt Trail in December 2018. This is a great trail, newly-paved for 13+ miles. We have hybrids but you could ride road bikes with no problem. We parked at Bechtler Mint Site and rode to the bridge at Hwy. 74. Perfect surface. Crossed a few roads but they are not big or busy. In that space we traveled through a number of small towns: Ruth, Rutherfordton, Forest City, and Florence. The only drawback is that I prefer countryside scenery. But the trail itself is awesome, with additional improvements to come!
Rode the Thermal Belt Trail in December 2018. This is a great trail, newly-paved for 13+ miles. We have hybrids but you could ride road bikes with no problem. We parked at Bechtler Mint Site and rode to the bridge at Hwy. 74. Perfect surface. Crossed a few roads but they are not big or busy. In that space we traveled through a number of small towns: Ruth, Rutherfordton, Forest City, and Florence. The only drawback is that I prefer countryside scenery. But the trail itself is awesome, with additional improvements to come!
Paving is now complete from Forest City near the bridge over US 74 to Gilkey. Feel free to take your road bike!
I've been living in Lincolnton a little over five years and am a frequent user of the Marsha H. Cloninger Rail-Trail. This is an easy trail for just about anyone looking for some exercise. There's about a hundred yards of fairly steep incline at the north end trailhead, but the rest of the 1.6 mile hike (3.2 miles both ways) is mostly level. The trail can be accessed or exited at several street intersections allowing hikers to do as much or as little of the trail as they desire. Several murals have been painted near the Main Street Tunnel in 2018 and hopefully the Art Council of Lincoln County will add more art.
This is a very Senior Citizen friendly trail. I love it
Park in Clanton road transit lot and enjoy an easy, smooth ride to Morehead. Good ride with access to many great restaurants
the last 4.8 miles are being prepared for paving! Active construction was seen and good progress being made. When it is complete, it will be over 12 miles of smooth, new pavement.
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