News

How is the Ecusta Trail managed?

By Bill Moss, Published: July 16, 2025

The Hendersonville City Council and Laurel Park Town Council have previously adopted and the Henderson County Board of Commissioners was expected on Wednesday to adopt a memorandum of understanding governing public safety, maintenance, funding and amenities. Here are key points of the MOU:

• The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office and Hendersonville and Laurel Park police will enforce federal, state and local law on the trail in their respective jurisdictions. “Officers shall patrol the trail system along with other priorities.”
• The three governments will cooperate on obtaining grants for expansion and maintenance of the Ecusta Trail System.
• The three governments share the cost of maintenance at the rate of $15,000 per completed mile. Based on the linear feet, I calculated that Hendersonville would owe $22,000 and Laurel Park $18,000.
• Henderson County will provide amenities within each municipality. If either city wants additional amenities, the cost of maintaining and operating the improvement is the city’s responsibility.
• The county Parks and Recreation Department will oversee daily operations of the trail, which is to be open 365 days “unless a safety issue is present.”
• Henderson County is responsible for the placement and construction of new amenities unless otherwise agreed upon. Henderson County will work with Friends of the Ecusta Trail to design, plan, prioritize and fund trail amenities and develop naming opportunities. If the project falls within one of the cities, the county will also consult with the city to plan, design and fund the improvement.
• Friends of the Ecusta Trail — “the unified, public voice of the trail” — will protect, promote and enhance the trail, serve as a nonpartisan advocate to provide trail expertise, raise public awareness, seek grants and donations to enhance the trail, develop a “trail ambassador” volunteer program to assist in patrolling, maintaining and providing information to trail users and provide volunteers for light maintenance duties.
• Regular maintenance duties include trash pickup, litter sweep and trail blowing, 3 times a week; tree and debris removal, weekly; tree and brush pruning, shoulder maintenance, quarterly; weed killer, 6 times a year; graffiti removal, within 10 days. As-needed tasks include storm cleanup, snow and ice removal, asphalt repair and trail drainage maintenance.