Fairview Community Forest Opens First Three Miles of Trails to Public

Three miles of new trails opened at Fairview Community Forest on March 20, 2026, giving Buncombe County residents their first public access to a 226-acre property off Woodson Road in Fairview that took 14 years to protect. Three miles of the planned 11-mile trail system are open for walking, running, and mountain biking. The trails offer two loops suitable for beginner or intermediate biking, along with rolling terrain for walking dogs on leashes, relaxing strolls, and vigorous hiking or running. The property is open daily from dawn to dusk.

Among the first-phase trails is Sutton's Way, named in honor of Ed Sutton, the Brevard-based trail builder whose company, Trail Dynamics, shaped some of the most beloved singletrack in western North Carolina. Sutton passed away recently after a brief battle with cancer at age 68, leaving behind a legacy of innovative trail design and community building that spans multiple states. According to Conserving Carolina, Sutton and his team completed the first trails at Fairview Community Forest shortly before his death.

Conserving Carolina purchased the 226 acres of the former Camp Woodson in July of 2025 to create the forest. In December, the nonprofit purchased an additional 27.5 acres, the land at the center of the camp that is home to the WORX Project. Funders included the NC Environmental Enhancement Grant Program, NC Land and Water Fund, US Forest Service Community Forest Program, Buncombe County Land Conservation Program, Fred and Alice Stanback, Conservation Trust for North Carolina, Fernandez Pave the Way Foundation, James G. K. McClure Educational and Development Fund, Hathaway Family Foundation, and the Presbytery of Western North Carolina. The effort to protect the land took 14 years.

The property was originally a Presbyterian summer camp, then served as a base for young people in the state's juvenile corrections system, where youth who had earned the opportunity did wilderness-based service work on trails and public lands. Jason McDougald, now director of Camp Grier, worked with the program for a decade as education coordinator until the state ended it in 2011.

Conserving Carolina owns the surrounding 226-acre Fairview Community Forest property, while the trails and public access are managed by Camp Grier. That arrangement also benefits The WORX Project, a career-focused outdoor education program that has operated on the adjacent campus since 2023. The WORX Project serves middle and high school students in Asheville and Buncombe County public schools and has served over 700 students between the ages of 11 and 18.

Sara Jarrell, director of the WORX Project, called the opening a milestone for the whole Fairview area. "This space represents what's possible when vision, partnership, and local passion come together," Jarrell said. "The WORX Project is proud to help create a place where people can connect with nature, with one another, and with the future of Fairview."

The forest's ecological value extends well beyond recreation. In addition to its benefits for education and recreation, the newly conserved property offers important water quality and wildlife benefits. It sits in a basin that encompasses an entire sub-watershed, with ecologically rich seeps and 1.3 miles of headwater streams, and also provides important bat habitat. Tom Fanslow, Conserving Carolina's land protection director, noted that "the property ranked in the top four percent of high conservation priorities in the watershed, and Tropical Storm Helene was the acid test." The land absorbed a vast amount of rainfall during Helene, and an existing dam dramatically slowed runoff, reducing downstream impacts.

The forest is located on Woodson Road in Fairview; there is no street number, but it can be found by searching "Fairview Community Forest" in Google Maps. Visitors arriving by the gravel road should watch for a small gravel parking area on the right. The remaining eight miles of the planned trail system have no announced opening timeline.