Stagecoach Greenway aims to transform Lawndale from textiles to trails

Lawndale now has something many rural communities lack: a free place built for everyday walking, biking and time outdoors. The Stagecoach Greenway is designed to connect four parks, two river accesses and Main Street in Lawndale, giving Cleveland County residents a local recreation option instead of a drive to somewhere else.

Why the greenway matters in Lawndale

The project’s own framing is direct: “Preserve. Inspire. Connect.” and “Reinventing Lawndale and rural Cleveland County from textiles to trails.” That is more than branding. It signals a shift from a mill-town identity toward a place where the river, the downtown and neighborhood recreation are linked in one public corridor.

The trail is planned as a 3-mile route from the Town of Lawndale north to the Cleveland County Water treatment facility. In a rural setting with few built-in amenities, that matters because the route is meant to give residents a safe place for walking and biking while also creating a destination for family outings, dog walks and short river visits. The project also says it will highlight an exceptional river, so the setting itself becomes part of the public value.

What is open now at Lawndale Park

The most tangible piece of the Stagecoach Greenway is Lawndale Park, the first project implemented under the Stagecoach Greenway Plan completed in February 2021. The park sits at 209 E Main St., Lawndale, NC 28090, which puts it right on the edge of downtown rather than in a remote greenfield site. That location is important because the trail is meant to pull the river and the main street into the same visitor pattern.

Lawndale Park is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. from May through September and from dawn to dusk the rest of the year. It may close during inclement weather. The amenities are practical and family-oriented: restrooms, river beach access, walking paths, picnic areas and dog-friendly access.

Those details make the park useful in ordinary life, not just on special occasions. A family can stop for lunch, let kids walk the paths, sit near the water and use the restrooms without needing a larger park system or a complicated trip out of town.

How the project got here

The greenway did not appear overnight. On Sept. 28, 2019, Brad Cornwell, Cleveland County Water’s manager, described the river edge and sandbar area as a potential community gathering place and called the trail a possible “gamechanger.” That assessment framed the project around public use from the start, with picnics and family activity at the center.

By Nov. 17, 2020, plans for the Lawndale greenway were taking shape and a public meeting had been postponed because of limits on public gatherings. The project moved ahead anyway. On Nov. 16, 2021, Cleveland County Water received grants totaling $225,000 for the Lawndale Park project, adding real financial backing to the idea.

Momentum accelerated again in 2024. On Jan. 9, 2024, the Lawndale greenway received state funds, and Lawndale Park was under construction with a tentative grand opening in May. That same year, the county’s trail-and-river access picture widened further when Cleveland County and the NC Wildlife Commission created two new river access points in upper Cleveland County, on Delight Road and NC Highway 10.

What the trail is designed to connect

The Stagecoach Greenway is being planned as a corridor, not a single destination. Its route is meant to link parks, river access and Main Street in Lawndale, which gives the project a stronger downtown impact than a stand-alone recreation site would have on its own. Trails that reach a main street can help funnel visitors toward nearby businesses, and that possibility is built into the project’s own emphasis on community connection and economic growth.

The broader messaging also fits a small-town development strategy. The trail’s website describes Lawndale and rural Cleveland County as being reinvented “from textiles to trails,” a phrase that captures the shift from industrial heritage to outdoor access. Destination by Design, which is behind the planning, says Lawndale Park is the first project implemented from the Stagecoach Greenway Plan, and the project page points to “Acres Of Greenway,” “Miles Of Trail” and “Family Friendly Parks” as the core elements of the buildout.

That combination is what makes the corridor unusual in Cleveland County: it is part park system, part river access network and part downtown connector. The result is a public-space investment that reaches beyond recreation alone. It changes how residents can move through Lawndale, how visitors can experience the First Broad River and how a former textile town can present itself as a place for everyday outdoor life.