Carolina Thread Trail: First Broad River Trail

Carolina Thread Trail:  First Broad River Trail – Shelby, NC – 11/4/18 – 4.4 Miles

I’m a big believer in exploring public spaces between “here” and “there” when I travel, and the Carolina Thread Trail makes it easy to find small but valuable gems. The Carolina Thread Trail networks through 15 counties in North and South Carolina. Homeward bound on a Sunday afternoon after an annual book club girls’ weekend in the mountains, feeling lighthearted and looking to squeeze a little more fun out of my trip, I set my GPS on the First Broad River Trail in Shelby, NC. It met my 4-mile minimum criteria for my 60^th birthday hiking challenge (remember that? I often ignore it).

The website’s general description:  This section of the Carolina Thread Trail is a 2.2-mile natural surface trail which follows the First Broad River in Shelby, NC. Take in the great views from this new trail which runs under a historic wooden railroad trestle and over the First Broad River via a 120-foot-long suspension bridge. The river outlook is perfect for wildlife and bird viewing and a hand-carry boat launch conveniently located near the trailhead parking lot offers easy access for paddling.

Well, they had me at “120-foot-long suspension bridge.”

If you’re a river walker, you’ll love this straightforward and easy path. I parked at the beginning of the greenway, Twin Trestle Trailhead. You could just spread out a picnic blanket and watch the trains go by right there.

 

A concrete walkway crosses open space, enters the woods and passes under West Grover Street. The suspension bridge looms large across the First Broad River (natural surface trail beyond the bridge).

Awesome mileage markers with longitude and latitude

 

  From the bridge you can glimpse a second railroad trestle that the trail will pass under 

(aka “Twin Trestle Trailhead”)

 

Then the trail veered slightly away from the river to pass beneath that railroad trestle bridge, then turned back to stay with the water. I met a few families and dogs walking their humans, but past the train trestle I enjoyed solitude.

 

This was early November, just a little bit of fall color, but I’m guessing the trail’s best full-on display is springtime wildflowers at the river’s edge.  Still, the sunny blue-sky day was just right for a nice walk, crossing several small wooden bridges and walking beneath Highway 74 where it crosses the First Broad. (For those of you who’ve driven there, bet you didn’t know that there is another trail access point beside Ingles!)

Whoooo lives here?

The trail ends without fanfare at a dead end, I presume a property boundary.  Hopefully one day it will continue on to connect with some other greenway for the forward-thinking community of Shelby. In the meantime, the First Broad River Trail is a great place for biking, walking and enjoying the flow of water and of life.

My walk back was uneventful except for another swing along the suspension bridge, humming the 57^th Street Bridge Song. 

   

“Slow down, you move too fast   
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobblestones  
Looking for fun and feeling groovy”  
 ~Paul Simon~