Hiking remains the most popular form of outdoor recreation both nationally and regionally. WNC is a mecca of hiking trails, with ample national parks and forests protecting the types of terrain, views and features hikers love most. Here’s some of the noteworthy trail news from the year...

One step at a time

The mountains’ section of the Mountains to Sea Trail was designated as a National Recreation Trail on National Trails Day this year.

Meanwhile, construction on one of the last missing sections in the mountains portion of the Mountains to Sea Trail marched onward. The new section of trail lies between Balsam Gap on the Haywood-Jackson county line and Waterrock Knob. Volunteer trail builders with the Carolina Mountain Club chipped away at the section after receiving long-awaited permission from the Blue Ridge Parkway following environmental assessments.

The Mountains to Sea Trail was listed as one of the top 25 semi-long distance trails in the nation in a recently released booked titled 25 Incredible Trails You Can Hike in One to Eight Weeks by E. Schlimmer.

At long last

The long-distance Benton MacKaye Trail was completed this year after 25 years in the making. A trail version of a ribbon cutting — actually a “vine cutting” — was held in the Joyce Kilmer Area in Graham County in July.

The Benton MacKaye Trail parallels the Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain, Ga., to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The 300-mile trail swings east into Tennessee after leaving Georgia. It passes through the Snowbird and Slickrock areas of the Nantahala National Forest. It crosses paths with the AT when it reaches the park at Lake Fontana, then follows existing trails for 105 miles to Interstate 40 where it again intersects with the AT.

It is named for Benton MacKaye, visionary behind the Appalachian Trail in the 1920s.

Bottoms up

A new Appalachian Trail shelter that can sleep 18 backpackers was inaugurated in the Max Patch area of Haywood County.

Volunteers with the Carolina Mountain Club spent two years building the trail shelter. An old trail shelter in the same vicinity was only half a mile from the closest gravel road, making it a popular party spot by overnighters who could easily walk to the shelter toting coolers and cases of beer, the remnants of which rarely made it back out of the woods. The new shelter is three miles from the closest gravel road, a trek that will hopefully be enough to deter those merely looking for a party spot.