The Oklawaha Greenway

Update- Great News!
NCDOT awards $1.2 million grant to Hendersonvillle to extend Oklawaha Greenway

Press release

From the City of Hendersonville:

HENDERSONVILLE, NC, September 20, 2013 – The City of Hendersonville is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a $1.2 million Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvement Grant to extend the Oklawaha Greenway from Patton Park on Asheville Highway to Berkeley Mills Park on Balfour Road. The grant is administered by the North Carolina Department of Transportation and utilizes federal and state funds to support bicycle and pedestrian improvement projects.

Read more by Caitlin Byrd Mountain Xpress



Original Post - Sunday October 8, 2011

The Oklawaha Greenway and Jackson
Park Nature Trail travel through swamp
forest habitat that has been recognized as
significant by the North Carolina Natural
Heritage Program.  The Natural Heritage
Program has identified more than 2,000
Significant Natural Heritage Areas across
the state.  A Significant Natural Heritage
Area is an area of land or water identified
by the Natural Heritage Program as
being important for conservation of the
State’s biodiversity.  Significant Natural
Heritage Areas contain either high quality
or rare natural communities,
rare species, or special animal habitats.
For more information, visit the Natural
Heritage Program’s website at
www.ncnhp.org

The above is part of the official description found in the Oklawaha Greenway Brochure. My experience, beginning with my first discovery of the Oklawaha Greenway, is Pure Enchantment. The paved walkway runs parallel along Mud Creek for about 3 miles, from Jackson Park to Patton Park. As reported by Caitlin Byrd, Phase III, will connect these two parks to Berkeley Mills Park. Once at Berkeley Mills Park, the greenway will be connected to the proposed trail system within Berkeley Mills Park. The project is scheduled to be completed by June 2015.
I discovered Oklawaha based on a tip from my avid outdoor enthusiast neighbors, Brian and Mary, who suggested it based on my interest in bike riding. I simply rode from our home up 4th avenue, through town and down across the railroad tracks through the entrance to Jackson Park. If you turn to the right, there is a trail that runs through the park and forest around a swampy pond. On this side there are several off shoot dirt bike trails through the woods and then you can loop back to cross the park entrance road and pick up the paved Oklawaha which curves gracefully through the woods along Mud Creek, dips below Four Seasons Hwy and takes you, crossing one main road, 7th Avenue, to Patton Park where you will find Racket ball courts, a Skateboard Park, Basketball courts and, oh yes, Patton Pool. Just before reaching civilization you are treated to a "Boardwalk" that juts off the paved path and deeper into the woods where you are surrounded by the silence of nature. A stroll down this wooden structure takes you back to a time before the roar of the super highway and the super computer. A time and place where I-Think had more meaning
 (and I say this with a profound respect and admiration for Steve Jobs) than I-Pod or I-Pad. In fact I-Confess that I-Love all that computer stuff and often engulf my head in surround sound I-Tunes even while riding. But not..... not while on the Oklawaha. While on the Oklawaha, I peddle softly, my breath is like the wind and I am engulfed in the Sounds of Silence.