Catawba Falls Trail in Pisgah National Forest to remain closed for another year

After what was supposed to be a year-long closure starting last May, the popular Catawba Falls Trail in Pisgah National Forest near Old Fort will remain closed until next spring. The recreation area is about a 40-minute drive east of downtown Asheville.

The closure is to complete work on “major renovations” that includes the construction of retaining walls, staircases, boardwalks and overlooks along the trail, according to a March 30 U.S. Forest Service news release.

Lisa Jennings, Grandfather District Recreation Manager, told the Citizen Times that safety and access are the main reasons for these renovations.

“We were having at least one serious head injury a month of people trying to get to the upper falls over the past five years,” Jennings said. “We’ve had a few deaths out there as well and so the No. 1 concern for us is safety.”

In the news release, Grandfather District Ranger Nick Larson said it was a difficult decision to make to close the trail for another year.

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"While the current phase of work is on time to be complete at the end of spring as planned, we have an opportunity to extend progress to reach the upper falls," Larson said. "Knowing additional closures are necessary for this critical work, we made the hard decision to extend the current closure to complete this additional construction."

The funding for this project is coming from the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Great American Outdoors Act. More funding was recently made available, leading to the extended closure. Jennings said she could not yet provide an exact number for how much funding this project will receive.

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The project is split into three phases.

The first phase, which has been under construction for 10 months, focused on improving access to the lower falls by adding more than 1,000 feet of boardwalks, stairs and overlook platforms. A 60-foot stair tower is being installed currently.

The second phase of construction will connect the stair tower to more boardwalks and stairs that will lead to a natural-surface trail.

The final phases will see improvements to the natural-surface trail and extend it to an overlook at the base of the upper falls. This trail will end back at the parking lot.

The Forest Service acquired the land that makes up the Catawba Falls Trail in 2006 from the Foothills Land Conservancy. The news release said these are just the latest round of improvements made to the area since this acquisition.

Jennings said she knows it will be frustrating for those wishing to visit Catawba Falls this year, but she said these improvements are needed.

"These improvements are necessary," Jennings said. "The only way to be able to get people safely between those two sets of falls is with this highly engineered structure just because of the difficulty of the terrain."

Karrigan Monk is the reporter for Black Mountain News. Email her at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Catawba Falls Trail in Pisgah National Forest still under construction