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Date: 12/15/25
Duration: 19:26
Guest: Laura Rice with Friends of The Ecusta Trail
Website: ecustatrail.org
Listen on Spotify:
Summary:
In this episode of Living Local with Frisbee Real Estate, Ed sits down with Laura Rice, the first full time Executive Director of Friends of the Ecusta Trail, to talk about one of the most exciting community projects happening in Western North Carolina.
Laura shares the story behind the Ecusta Trail, a vision that began back in 2009 with local leaders from Henderson and Transylvania Counties working to transform an unused rail line into a multi use trail. Fast forward fifteen years, and that vision is becoming reality. The first six mile stretch opened in July, running from Main Street in Hendersonville to Horseshoe, and it is already seeing incredible daily use from walkers, runners, cyclists, families, and visitors from out of town.
The conversation covers what it has taken to get the trail off the ground, how multiple counties, cities, volunteers, and funding partners came together, and what is next. Laura explains that an additional five miles in Henderson County and eight miles in Transylvania County are currently in design, with a target completion date of late 2027, eventually creating a continuous connection from Hendersonville to Brevard.
Ed and Laura also dive into how the trail is maintained, how funding works through a mix of federal and state grants along with local fundraising, and how the Friends of the Ecusta Trail nonprofit fills important gaps by supporting amenities like benches, signage, and trail features that make the experience even better.
Listeners will learn how to get involved through volunteering, donating, or becoming a Trail Ambassador, as well as how to stay up to date through the Ecusta Trail newsletter and website. Laura also shares her favorite trail adjacent stops for coffee, food, and local flavor, along with must see outdoor spots in the area like Jump Off Rock, DuPont State Forest, and the Carl Sandburg Home.
The episode wraps with a preview of an upcoming community wide trail event scheduled for April 19, inviting everyone to walk, stroll, roll, or ride in support of the trail.
This episode is a great listen for anyone who loves the outdoors, cares about community driven projects, or wants to understand why the Ecusta Trail is already becoming a game changer for the region.
Learn more at ecustatrail.org and keep living local.
Watch on YouTube:
Transcript:
Hey, thanks again for joining us. I'm super excited to have our special guest, Laura Rice. She's the executive director with Friends of Acoustatrail. Laura, thanks so much for joining us. Did I say it all correctly? You did, you nailed it. Awesome, great. So give us a quick overview about what you're doing. You're pretty new to the position. Yeah. And we have lots of great questions. We're excited. Well.
I don't wanna say too much, but the Acoustic Trail is right here by the office and we love seeing what's happening. Yeah, you've got great access. It's just like two, not even, it's a block down, not even that. But yeah, so I joined Friends of the Acoustic Trail in September as their first executive director, so first full-time paid staff person for the group. Friends of the Acoustic Trail, though, started in 2009 with a group of folks from Henderson and Transylvania County coming together with the vision of repurposing the unused trail, or,
Not trail again at that point, rail line at that point to turn it into a trail. And so over the past really 15 years, they've worked with both counties, cities, ⁓ local politicians, state, federal to really come together and get a trail. So that's a very, very abbreviated version. ⁓ And so now Friends of Acoustic Trail is the friends group of the trail.
So we're here to help continue construction of the trail. We've got the first six miles here in Henderson County from Main Street, Hendersonville to Horseshoe. And then we've got another five miles in Henderson County and eight miles in Transylvania County that are in the design process for construction that'll continue and eventually end in on Main Street and Brevard. So a lot going on. Well, whoever had the vision, kudos to them because
I am really impressed with how well used it is already. Just opening in July, think, right? Yeah, official opening was July 18th. And even before then, there were lots of people out on it. But yeah, I mean, it's it's amazing to go see even now as we're kind of in wintertime, how many people are out there, even when it's very, very cold. But you've got your regulars, you've got people riding, people walking. And then, of course, the weekends or any nice days you've got.
everybody out there. So obviously it shows that there's a need and people are enjoying it and embracing it and we've got to get the rest of the miles down. No kidding. So in real estate, I have people come from out of town that want to find a house along the Acoustic Trail, which is just, and I mean, again, it's in its infancy. And so it's just crazy to imagine that it's the word has spread that fast. Yeah. People from out of town. So.
Great. Well, and I mean, I'm maybe like two miles from the trail, so I'm still pretty close and can ride or walk to it if I want, which is great because then it's easy and it does it adds like a place where you can go and walk or ride. You don't really have to think about it, ⁓ which we need more of those places. We love it. And we didn't even know we would like it. So it's awesome. So how hard is it to navigate was or is to navigate through different sections? You're going through different.
counties, cities, and all that stuff. Yeah, so because it's a linear trail, don't it's not part of a trail network as of yet. So really, once you get on the trail, you're either going one direction or the other. You're going away from Hendersonville or towards Brevard or vice versa. ⁓ There are intersections, though, or trail crossings where it crosses roads. ⁓ But it's pretty straightforward. just start going down the trail and keep going until you want to turn around and go back to where you parked.
You know eventually long long term. It'd be great to be part of a broader trail network in the area So we can you know have more connectivity like to the Okla Waha Greenway or other trails and we will tie into other trails in Brevard But that'll be at the that that far end. So it's easy. Yeah easy navigation. Is that a difficult process to? Get that to happen not to get the trails to connect. Yeah ⁓
We've got great partners who are already kind of looking at what that big picture is. A lot of it comes down to where is their land, where's their property, the cost, lots, lots of different things to, to consider. And right now, you know, that's, that's far, far down the road right now. We're focused on getting all the trail done so we can get from Hendersonville to Brevard, Brevard to Hendersonville, one straight shot. Wow.
And who takes on the expense of maintenance and care and that kind of stuff? Yeah, so in the Henderson County portion, Henderson County government, so Henderson County Parks and Rec is taking that role. So they already have a couple of staff people that are dedicated to the trail. The main one is Mike. He's awesome. So if you see him on the trail. I that Mike. Tremendous trees. He's super nice. Mike is fantastic and the whole Parks and Rec department. They are great and fully invested in the trail. So.
If there's something, yeah, you see something that needs fixing or a tree is down or something like that. Parks and Rec will be the ones that are out there doing that and cleaning up trash and things like that. We're also starting a volunteer program to help them with some of those things so that we can support in any way possible. And then when we get to the Transylvania County portion, City of Brevard will be covering the maintenance and cleanup on that section.
And what's the ETA on that? Is it still a few years out before Brevard? Yeah, it's a couple years out. So there's there's two sections that we're working on right now. So that's the remainder of Henderson County portion, which is five miles and then the eight miles in Transylvania County. And both of those have a target finish date of the end of twenty twenty seven. So.
a couple, you know, a couple of years. ⁓ And I mean, everything right now is on schedule, but we know how projects go. So take it with a grain of salt. And so is it funded through grants, local money, donations like everything? Short answers, everything. Yeah, we were really, yeah, really, really grateful to get a lot of state and federal funding.
So there's been legislative funding through ⁓ check out check out Chuck Edwards, excuse me Has been a huge supporter and helped get a lot of funding for the trail construction There have been federal grants that have been applied for and received for both sections So a lot of it is yes state and federal grant funding. So not a lot of cost is passed on to residents however
there are costs that are associated that aren't covered by grants. So we've done fundraising for things like trail amenities. So that's your signs, that's ⁓ benches, trash cans, things like that. And then fundraising to help cover any gaps in funding because we all know that costs everywhere are going up and especially for construction projects. So, you know, there'll be fundraising to help cover those gaps as those are discovered as both sections of the trail.
get closer to construction. people that love the trail and wanted to help support, they could volunteer. They can volunteer. Or donate through an organization such as? Exactly. Friends of the Coastal Trail. So we are a nonprofit. So everything is tax deductible. And that allows us to fundraise in different ways than our government partners. So yeah, we're always looking for volunteers. We actually just rolled out a new volunteer portal so that we can get those programs up and running.
It's fantastic. It makes things so much easier for volunteers to sign up and we'll roll out kind of volunteer opportunities with that after the new year. And then, for donations, you're coming to a nonprofit, so it's all tax deductible. And then, you know, we'll use those for, yeah, whether it's needed for construction or, you know, yeah, those amenities on the trail.
so that we can get signs. So yeah, you know exactly where you are and where you're going or benches. You can take a break or things like that. So the things that, it's great having trail on the ground, but the things that make it actually a little more enjoyable. So what kind of volunteer opportunities will be out there? Yeah. So we'll have what we're calling our Trail Ambassador program. And that's where light, trash, pickup, answering questions. So if you're
first time on the trail and you don't know where you are or you want to know, all right, where's the closest coffee shop or restaurant or bike shop or whatever? We'll have folks out on the trail that can answer those questions. ⁓ Then we're also working with Henderson County Parks and Rec to do one-off work days. So if you have a group that wants to come and do a trail work day, have a project, things like that, see what we can do to help and have a focused project.
We also have more like administrative things as well that'll be coming up. So if you like writing or have a professional skillset or something that could help photography, ⁓ legal expertise, mean, kind of a little bit of everything, ⁓ we'll have opportunities to kind of help support ⁓ what we're doing because we have a fantastic board that's done so much.
⁓ But there's only so much that they can do and there's only so much that I can do. So we are grateful for help and interest to keep things going. That's really cool. So if people are listening, I don't think I've asked you yet. What's the web address? Yeah, yeah. It's a ecustatrail.org OK. And yeah, we've got a great website. We have a trail map that shows the completed sections of trail. It shows businesses along the trail. It shows where you can park.
all those good things. And then of course, the remainder of the trail that's yet to be completed. So it's got trail map, FAQ. You can sign up for our newsletter that goes out once a month with trail news and updates. You can get updates from like the different groups and projects that are working on the trail in Henderson County and city of Brevard. ⁓ There's a little bit of everything on there. I subscribed to that email a few months ago and what caught my attention was you've traveled around to
various places, I guess there's a group like trail stuff. Tell us about that a little bit. Sure, yeah. So there's the Rails to Trails Conservancy that this year or next year celebrating their 50th year. And they were founded to help, you know, get legislation in place and guides in place and to help people with rail banking and getting these rail trails constructed and having
safe trails for people to use. So we were invited to their conference in Cleveland, Ohio in October to talk about the Acoustic Trail. And it was really great. About 400 people there from all across the nation, different types of level of involvement with trails. So other local governments, friend groups, planners, mean, everybody and anybody who'd be involved with a trail.
And we got to do two presentations talking about the Acoustic Trail and already the economic impact. the partner, big part of that was the partnerships that brought it to life. So having partnerships with Henderson County and city of Brevard and just what it took to get here. So it was a great, great experience. That's really cool. It's fascinating to me to think about the process. So again, ⁓ good job, whoever spearheaded it.
15 years ago. don't they they've done an amazing job and stepping into this position You know, you never quite know what to expect right? but stepping into a What I was very very excited to have the opportunity to start working back at home again and for something that is so important and Kind of checks all my boxes for what I want to do professionally, but then to look at what the board has accomplished is
It's amazing just the the work that I mean a whole volunteer board for 15 years have put I mean, I don't even know how many hours they've put in uh to this to make it happen. So it's a significant body of work and we see part of that realized in the six miles. Yep. Wow. So you mentioned you grew up here and moved away for a bit came back. Well, I never moved away. No, no, that's okay. No, that's kind of the misconception is like yeah, I I start a new rumor you moved away. I know
A lot of people think that. Well, and that's where I had the opportunity to have a couple remote positions, which was great because I didn't have to move away. But there's a difference when you're working remote. It gave me a lot of really great opportunities that I'm really, grateful for. ⁓
but it does kind of isolate you in a little bit because there's not that need or that incentive to go out all the time and be involved in the community. And I was missing that. And that was one of the really attractive things about this position is that it was allowing me to not just live here, but also come back and contribute locally again. Awesome.
Well, glad you've stuck around. So you grew up in the area. I always ask people a couple of questions. Ask about food. Yes, yes. So do you have any suggestions, recommendations of any restaurants that people should try out? Yeah. Well, I mean, have to share your favorites if you're under the bus. Yeah, I don't want to get don't want to make anybody upset. No, I mean, obviously anything along the trail is great. And that is one of the really, really cool things about the first six miles is.
there are so many opportunities. mean, you can either start on Main Street, which we know has so many options to dine at, ⁓ or you just go ⁓ basically a half mile down the trail and you can stop at Guy Dog or Acoustic Cafe or Market or Trailside. Then you go a little further and there's Southern Streams and then you go a little further down and you can get to Packa's Place or like Root and Bone down in Horseshoe or ⁓ Cognitive Cafe.
It's a great, you don't have to be on the trail to just go and be fit and run and ride your bike really hard.
You can go and take a stroll and get a coffee and then get a donut and then get a beer. It's such a cool If time it out, can have breakfast, lunch, and dinner on the trail. Just get someone to pick you up at the end when you're done or whatever. But that's another cool way to experience the trail. You mentioned Root and Bone. I haven't been there yet, but I've heard good things about it. I haven't been there yet either, so it's on my list to go to. I've heard really, really good things. give people an idea. ⁓
right at 64, basically at the end of the trail, right? of the trail, yeah. So right now at the end of the trail, you've got Pacca's Place, which is great community, kind of beer garden feel. And then across the road on 64 is, yeah, Root and Bone. So yeah. that's right there in Horseshoe Etowah area. right, right there. Banner Farm Road, kind of intersection there. So yeah. That's really cool. Aside from that, I mean, yeah, we've got so many great, great places, but I mean, yeah, regularly, I think you end up finding me grabbing stuff from...
West First and Flat Rock Village Bakery. When I'm not on the trail, those are kind of my You're the first to say that one. ⁓ all right. I'm surprised. know. Campfire Grill was mentioned a while back. They're really good, too. There's good options. So outside of the Acoustic Trail, if you people coming to visit, you have any places you say, hey, you got to go look at this? Check it out. Definitely. Jump Off Rock is one of my favorites.
I'm always surprised too, like there's people who live here who haven't been there yet. So if someone is listening or watching and they haven't been up there yet, go, go do it. But yeah, Jump Off Rock is one of my favorites. ⁓ Carl Sandberg Home, that's another great one. You know, we're out there walking and hiking and taking our dog out all the time. ⁓ DuPont State Forest is amazing. I think you're picking up on a trend with me here. It's it's outside. Outside, love it.
Yeah, there's just there is so much out here. That's one reason why I like being here is there's always something outdoors to go do. Awesome. All right. ⁓ Anything else exciting about the Acoustic Trail we should know about? I you've covered it all. But yeah, I do. We do have ⁓ this is we're just getting started with the planning, but we are going to have Friends of Acoustic Trail trail event in April. ⁓
So April 19th, it's a Sunday. We're going to have an event that you can walk in. You can ride. can push your kids in a stroller, pull them in a wagon. ⁓ Basically walk, walk, stroll, roll, however, however you want to go. And it'll be to fundraise for the trail and raise awareness for the trail. So we'll have an official announcement out in January, but we're really, really excited to get everybody together and celebrate the trail.
Will it start or just be all over the trail? over the trail. But yeah, our official start and finish will be at the Henderson County Welcome Center, which is the Henderson County trailhead just a couple blocks up from where we are here. And then it'll be on the whole trail. So we're still working on a lot of the details. April 19th. April 19th. So save the date and keep an eye out on our newsletter and get all the info there. Very cool. Well, Laura, thank you so much for taking time.
Again, tell us the website and do you have a phone number also? Yeah, so website is ecustatrail.org and the phone number it'll put you to a voicemail box. You can leave a message. I get those. We also have a board member that checks those. So if you see something or have a question or anything like that, you can call this number and it's 828-490-1854. Got it. we'll. Yep. Easy enough. All right.
Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule and taking the, I know it's a big effort for people to find us and come hang out for a few minutes, but thank you very much. No, thank you so much. And thanks for all you're doing with the Acoustic Trail. We're excited. So thank you all for listening or watching and keep living local.