Grant Will Fund New Trails in Fairview
New trails are coming to Fairview, thanks to a grant from Buncombe County’s Open Space Bond program. The County has awarded funding for an 11-mile system of hiking and mountain biking trails at the Fairview Community Forest, which is expected to open in the spring of 2026.
This summer, Conserving Carolina purchased 226 acres at a former summer camp to create the Fairview Community Forest. This unique project will offer trails for the local community, in a protected forest that surrounds an outdoor education campus serving Asheville and Buncombe County public school students. The WORX Project campus at the center of the forest includes an additional 27.5 acres that will also be protected, for a total of more than 250 acres of new conservation land.
When the community forest opens this spring, approximately three miles of trails will be ready for hiking and mountain biking. The Buncombe County grant funding will support for the creation of an additional eight miles of trails. The trails will be designed for beginner-to-intermediate hiking and mountain biking. In addition, the grant will fund a bathroom.
The County awarded $687,500 for the Fairview Community Forest, one of six open space projects that received funding this year. The funding comes from the $30 million Open Space Bond that was passed by Buncombe County voters in 2022.
Sara Jarrell, the director of the WORX Project says, “Receiving this grant from the Buncombe County Open Space Program is incredibly exciting for the WORX Project. The new trails we’ll build in the Fairview Community Forest will transform the outdoor experience for our WORX Project students—giving them beautiful, safe places to learn, explore, and connect with nature. This support helps us foster curiosity, confidence, and community in every student we serve.”
The WORX Project serves young people in Buncombe County through a variety of programs. The program offers hands-on vocational education for public school students that can lead to economic opportunities—including jobs in Western North Carolina’s outdoor economy. Students can explore career fields that include environmental stewardship, solar energy, forestry and saw milling, sustainable agriculture, the bike industry, construction, and culinary services. Offering opportunities to enjoy the trails and the forest, WORX is also an outdoor summer camp, free for any students who want to go.
Now that the funding is available, Jarrell says that they hope to build new trails in 2026.
Kieran Roe, executive director of Conserving Carolina, says, “We are thrilled that Buncombe County is investing in trails that will fulfill the promise of Fairview Community Forest—to open up trails in a part of the county that doesn’t have very many, to give local folks a convenient place to go for a walk in the woods, and to turn kids on to hiking, biking, and outdoor activities. We can’t wait to see these new trails on the ground.”