Both the Guilford County Health Department and the county’s Parks Department want county citizens to get off the couch and start walking – and those departments are making moves to encourage you to do so.

To that end, on Thursday, April 21, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners is set to clear the way for public trail enhancements by accepting an easement for a new public trail at Rich Fork Preserve in the High Point area.

In High Point, the county has already established “Conner Trail” and county officials now want to build a new hiking trail at Rich Fork Preserve that extends Conner Trail and turns it into a hiking loop.

However, in order to do that, the proposed extension – due to topographical constraints in the area – must pass through neighboring property. That prevents the trail from being solely on county-owned land.  The path has to cross a commons area of the Avalon subdivision in High Point.  After that point, the new trail will then follow the City of High Point’s Sewer and Greenway easements back to Guilford County-owned property.

In late January, the Avalon Subdivision Owners’ Association was kind enough to grant the county a 100- foot easement for the trail – however, the move still needs final approval by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners.  That approval is set for a vote at the board’s April 21 meeting, which is a rare commissioners meeting because it’s being held in High Point.  Almost always, the Board of Commissioners meets in downtown Greensboro.

Rich Fork Preserve, which is off of West Parris Avenue in High Point, features a diverse trail system due to a lot of unusual topography in the preserve. The park’s offerings include hiking and biking paths with a good deal of wildlife and preserved historic structures to look at along the way.

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