New Haw River Trail bridge improves access at Boyd’s Creek Crossing
A 60-foot steel bridge at Boyd’s Creek Crossing ended a 4.7-mile detour on the Haw River Trail and linked Haw River to the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.
Alamance Parks completed a 60-foot steel bridge at Boyd’s Creek Crossing that closed one of the Haw River Trail’s most frustrating gaps and kept hikers moving through the Sellers Falls section without turning back at the creek.
The crossing sits about one mile north of Granite Mill and downtown Haw River, on a stretch that ties the Haw River Trail into the North Carolina Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Before the bridge, high water could make the crossing impassable, forcing trail users into a 4.7-mile detour or an about-face. With the new span in place, the route now stays continuous across the creek.
Alamance Parks announced the project on October 14, 2021, and a ribbon-cutting celebration followed on October 29, 2021. The bridge was built as a joint venture with the Town of Haw River and was funded by a grant from Impact Alamance. Haw River resident Herman Johnson donated the trail easement for the site, making the crossing a product of both public and private local support.
The celebration drew a roster of local and state figures tied to the trail system, including Andrew Sam, Brian Baker, Kate Dixon, Kelly Allen, Amy Galey, Steve Ross and Herman Johnson. Their presence underscored how the bridge fits into a broader effort to link county recreation assets with a larger regional route that passes through Alamance County.
That broader route matters because the Mountains-to-Sea Trail runs from Clingman’s Dome in Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Jockey’s Ridge State Park. Alamance Parks says 59 miles of the trail system run through Alamance County, from the Guilford-Alamance County line to Saxapahaw. The Boyd’s Creek span strengthens that corridor for local walkers using it for hiking, nature walks and other low-cost recreation, while also giving long-distance travelers a cleaner crossing point through the county.
Impact Alamance, the private foundation formed from the merger of Alamance Regional and Cone Health, said in 2025 that it had supported more than 75 healthier-initiative investments totaling $5.8 million since 2015. The Boyd’s Creek bridge became one of the clearest visible examples of that kind of investment: a short crossing that changed where the trail could go and how reliably people could use it.
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