Construction begins May 8 of a section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in Alamance County, and an Elon University associate professor is looking for volunteers to help with the “First Dig.”
The newly created Haw River Task Force of the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail will begin its work at 9 a.m. at Shallow Ford at 1955 Gerringer Mill Road north of Burlington. The mile-long section will parallel the Haw River.
Volunteers should bring their own gloves, water, lunch, sunscreen and bug spray. The task force will provide some tools.
“Alamance will be an important link in the Mountains-to-Sea Trail between the Piedmont and Triangle,” said Megan Squire, a faculty member in the Department of Computing Sciences and the Haw River Task Force leader. “We’re looking forward to complementing the efforts of the Haw River Trail Partnership.”
The county, to date, has protected enough land in four locations in Alamance for seven miles of the trail.
The Mountains-to-Sea Trail is a nearly 1,000 mile linear state park that goes from Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains to Jockey’s Ridge at the Outer Banks. Nearly half of the trail is complete.
Squire requests that volunteers RSVP so she can plan for the tools. Her e-mail is megansquire@gmail.com.