Blue Ridge Country March/April 2020 - 14

T H E G O O D WA L K

WHEN
YOU

Text by LEONARD ADKINS | Photos by LEONARD & LAURIE ADKINS

N,
MORGANTO
NORTH
CAROLINA

Catawba River Greenway
Leads to Food and Play
The easy 4-mile pathway is also part of the Overmountain
Trail and the North Carolina Birding Trail.

ABOVE
LEFT: The
region's best
cheesecake is
served at the
Inn at Glen
Alpine.
ABOVE
RIGHT:
The
greenway
stays within
sight of the
river.
RIGHT:
Replicated
Native
American
structures
are part of
the walk.

lthough smaller in scale than nearby
Asheville, Morganton, North Carolina shares many attributes with its
neighbor to the west. Morganton
has good museums and galleries
(History Museum of Burke County
and Burkes Arts Council to name
two), some great restaurants (King Street Café
and Root and Vine for example) and several
local breweries (including Fonta Flora and
Brown Bottle Works). And, since the most
important thing Laurie and I look for when
visiting an area is good walking opportunities,
I'm happy to report Morganton has a first-rate greenway.
The Catawba River Greenway is a paved, basically flat
(maximum grade is 4% and that's only for a few yards)
pathway that parallels its namesake stream and provides
easy access to parks, restaurants, fishing opportunities,
playgrounds, canoe and kayak launches and a number
of restrooms. It's also an official segment of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, a part of the
North Carolina Birding Trail and was the site of an 1865
Civil War skirmish. An added bonus is most of the trail is

BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM

THE WALK: An
easy four-mile (eight
miles roundtrip)
walk on the Catawba
River Greenway with
natural, historical and
dining diversions.

GETTING THERE:
Take I-40 Exit 100
west of Morganton
and follow Jamestown
Road for 2 miles. Make
a right onto Carbon
City Road, continue
another .5 mile and
turn left onto Greenlee
Road for .2 mile to
leave one car in the
parking area. Return
to and turn left onto
Carbon City Road, go
.5 mile, turn left onto
Sanford Drive, continue 2.7 miles, turn
left onto Lenoir Drive,
go another .7 mile,
turn onto Shadowline
Drive for just a few
feet and turn left back
onto Lenoir Drive for
.3 mile. Make a right
onto the road for the
Rocky Ford Access
parking area.
MORE
INFORMATION:
The morgantonnc.gov
website has a link to
the greenway system.

surrounded by towering trees, providing nice shade and
helping block out much of the noise from nearby streets.
About a mile into the walk are replicated Native
American structures with bark and thatched roofs and
solid walls that represent a village from the 16th century. According to interpretive plaques, the nearby Fort
San Juan was the site of the first European (Spanish) settlement in the New World, predating Jamestown's establishment by four decades-a bit of information absent
from most American history books.

http://www.morgantonnc.gov http://www.BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM

Blue Ridge Country March/April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country March/April 2020