If you've parked at Locust Creek since September and wondered when the paved path will run farther along the Tuckasegee, the county's own paperwork has the answer. The extension now has a cost estimate down to the dollar, a unanimous vote from commissioners and a grant application in the works. It doesn't have a published route, and one of the three funding sources it was counting on doesn't appear on the state's latest award list. The mile of greenway Cullowhee has now is likely the one it will keep walking for a while. That mile also picked up a distinction no other trail in the country holds.
The Mile You Already Have Got a National First
The Jackson County Greenway runs about one mile each way along the Tuckasegee River. One trailhead is at Locust Creek near Old Cullowhee Road, and the other is at the end of Monteith Gap Road. Both have parking, and the restrooms are at Locust Creek. County tourism describes the route as a one-mile path, or a two-mile out-and-back, that crosses a large footbridge. Most drivers reach the Old Cullowhee Road parking area from NC 107, past Locust Creek and Rolling Green.
In November 2025, the Association of Nature & Forest Therapy certified the greenway as a forest therapy trail. That made it the first all-accessible certified forest therapy trail in North Carolina and in the United States. It's also the second certified trail in Jackson County, after the lower loop at Pinnacle Park. Self-guided brochures are kept at the Locust Creek and Monteith Branch trailheads and on the Friends of Jackson County Greenways website. A grand opening was held at Locust Creek on December 6, 2025.
According to the Friends group, the trail is open year-round with no fee. It's paved and mostly flat, with accessible parking and restrooms, benches, pavilions, picnic tables and an accessible observation and learning platform. Those features are what earned the certification, and they're also the standard any new section will be held to.
What $2,465,286 Buys, Line by Line
On September 1, 2026, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to apply for a Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery award, known as CDBG-DR. This is federal disaster money set aside for counties hit by Hurricane Helene. The request would pay to build a 1.65-mile extension of the Tuckasegee River Greenway and to stabilize parts of the existing trail that were damaged in the Helene flooding. County staff wrote that the new section would be designed to limit future storm damage. Parks and Recreation Director Michael Hopkins and Planning Director Michael Poston prepared the application with help from the Southwestern Commission.
Equinox Environmental produced the preliminary cost estimate:
| Line item | Amount | Share of total |
|---|---|---|
| Design, engineering, hydraulic modeling and permitting | $420,000 | about 17% |
| Greenway construction | $1,258,286 | about 51% |
| Construction contingency | $375,855 | about 15% |
| Conceptual design-level estimating contingency | $410,881 | about 17% |
| Total | $2,465,286 |
The first and last rows tell you where the project stands. The $420,000 for design, engineering, hydraulic modeling and permitting hasn't been spent, because the county is still raising it. The fourth row is a contingency sized for a conceptual design. In other words, the estimate is built on a concept, not on engineered plans. Only about half the budget goes to building trail. The rest pays to plan it and to cover what a concept-level estimate can't yet predict.
The estimate also grew over the summer. At the August 4 meeting, staff described preliminary engineering estimates of just over $2 million, a 1.6-mile extension and a grant request of about $1.2 million. By September 1, those figures were 1.65 miles, $2.47 million and $1.25 million.
Three Funding Sources, and One Isn't on the Award List
The county's plan relies on three sources of money.
- $1.25 million from CDBG-DR, which doesn't require a local match.
- $500,000 from the North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, known as PARTF, which county staff had applied for.
- $715,286 from the county's Greenway Construction Fund.
The county's public notice said the CDBG-DR application was expected to go in by September 8, 2026, after a public comment period that ended August 28. No award announcement has been posted.
The PARTF picture is clearer, and less encouraging. The Sylva Herald reported that Jackson County Parks and Recreation applied for the $500,000 PARTF grant in March and that awards would be announced in late August or early September. They came out on September 3, 2026, when Governor Josh Stein announced more than $9.8 million in PARTF grants for 25 local projects. The Parks and Recreation Authority had approved them at its August 28 meeting. That round drew 42 applications asking for more than $15.5 million. Next door, Macon County received $500,000 for Veterans' Memorial Park. Jackson County isn't in the recipient table. Without the PARTF money, the two remaining sources add up to $1,965,286. That's exactly $500,000 short of the estimate.
PARTF also requires grantees to match the award dollar for dollar, and it caps any single project at $500,000. The CDBG-DR request was the county's largest ask and the only one with no matching requirement.
Even if every dollar arrives, here's what still stands between the vote and finished pavement, based on the line items in the county's own estimate:
- A decision on the CDBG-DR application, which hasn't been announced.
- Covering the $500,000 the PARTF grant was supposed to provide.
- Design and engineering to replace the conceptual layout, which is why the $420,000 line exists.
- Hydraulic modeling, needed for a riverside trail meant to hold up in future floods.
- Permitting, and then construction.
No public route map or confirmed endpoints for the extension have been published yet. The Friends of Jackson County Greenways' 2025–2026 summary says connectivity is moving toward Western Carolina University and the Cullowhee River Park. Past that, the exact path is something the design phase will settle.
Why the River Park Is Waiting on This Too
The second destination in that summary helps explain the urgency. On April 7, 2026, Cullowhee Revitalization Endeavor chair Matt Tornow showed county commissioners the group's plans for a Cullowhee River Park. CuRvE reported several steps already taken:
- buying two properties on Wayehutta Road
- removing structures and invasive plants
- assessing the park's viability, economic impact and community interest
- working to make sure the bridge replacement would allow a greenway connection to the park
CuRvE's Phase 1 would be a $1 million first investment. It includes extra parking, reservable pavilions, an event stage and vending pad, restrooms, ADA river access with a wading beach, and access to the expanded greenway.
That last item ties the two projects together. The park's own plan lists the expanded greenway as a feature, and the greenway's stated direction points toward the park. The bridge replacement is the link between them. The April minutes say the bridge needs to be compatible with a greenway connection but give no construction date. So the river park, the bridge and the extension are three separate efforts, and the county paperwork so far shows each one waiting on the others or on funding.
Where Helene Fits In
The CDBG-DR money is available because of storm damage, and the existing trail's Helene history is the reason the extension qualifies. In August, staff told commissioners that the project looked eligible after early conversations with the NC Commerce Division of Community Revitalization. The existing greenway had been damaged by the storm, and the extension would reduce future flood damage in the area. This CDBG-DR round also gives priority to parks and recreation projects.
Some of the repair work is still unfinished. The September application includes stabilizing parts of the existing greenway, and no county document reviewed for this post says those repairs are done. Shortly after the storm, in October 2024, Smoky Mountain News reported the greenway open, while East LaPorte Park and Webster River Access were closed for repairs. No newer list of open and closed river accesses has been posted, so check with Jackson County Parks and Recreation before planning a put-in at either spot.
This Fall on the Mile That's Already Built
The Friends of Jackson County Greenways list two guided walks at the Locust Creek trailhead for later this year. A nature-journaling and sketch walk is set for Sunday, November 15, and a guided Shinrin-Yoku walk for Monday, December 21. Both listings say registration is coming soon. Until then, the self-guided forest therapy brochures at both trailheads let you walk the same certified route on your own schedule. Questions about the certification go to Debby Singleton. Questions about the greenway itself go to Trevor Brown, Outdoor Recreation Manager for Jackson County Parks and Recreation.
For food afterward, Peak Pizza Bar is a short drive from the Locust Creek end at 2968 Old Cullowhee Road. A May 2026 report said owner Justin Smith was planning a soft opening there, and the restaurant's site now lists daily hours and online ordering. The Cat's Table, at 4685 Little Savannah Road in Cullowhee, also offers online ordering and posts its hours.
The next public step on the extension will be an award decision on the CDBG-DR application. When it's announced, it will show up in the Jackson County Board of Commissioners minutes, the same place every figure in this post came from.
If you own property near Old Cullowhee Road or Wayehutta Road and want to know how a future greenway connection or river park could affect your home's value, Great Smoky Mountain Homes is glad to talk it through with you. Request your free home valuation, and we'll keep you posted as the county's funding and design decisions come in.
