Mountains To Sea Trail in Clayton NC.

The Mountains to Sea Trail is a 1,000 mile route that links Clingman's Dome in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Jockey's Ridge Park On the Outer Banks,(love the names). Currently there are 450 miles of trails open.

Map courtesy of Friends of the Mountain to Sea Trail

When completed the trail will pass through 37 counties and could be used for a daily stroll or a more adventurous hike from one end of the state to the other.

The NC Department of Transportation and the town of Clayton want to build a 3.5 stretch of green way from the Wake County line to Sam's Branch Creek.

Clayton is planning a green way in the Sam's Branch area that the trail would connect to. The Mountain to Sea Trail would follow the Neuse River through Clayton.

The Mountains to Sea Trail passes through three National Parks, Great Smoky Mountain Park, Blue Ridge Parkway and Cape Hatteras National Shoreline. It passes through State Parks along the way and National forests and two wilderness areas.

There are rivers, lakes and mountains along the way and a great organization called Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail have tons of information about it on their website here.

This is something we should all rally behind as the more people who see the natural beauty right on their doorstep the better chance we have to preserve it.