Bunker Hill CB Hiking Trail

WGN 33-18-01

 

Catawba County, NC, August 31, 2012 - Catawba County plans to link the Bunker Hill Covered Bridge to I-40 with a hiking trail. A park next to the bridge is also planned.

The work is part of a plan to build a 2.6-mile trail from the town of Claremont's city hall to the Interstate 40 rest stop and then on to the bridge. Claremont town manager Doug Barrick said the town expects to apply this fall for a Carolina Thread Trail grant that would help build a section of the Carolina Tread Trail between Claremont City Park and the I-40 rest stop, which has 350,000 visitors annually.

The county also wants to eventually build a park next to the bridge, located over Lyle Creek, two miles east of the Catawba County town of Claremont.

The Bolick family donated the bridge in 1985 to the Catawba County Historical Association. The county now plans to buy land from that same family to improve access to the site, said Mary George, assistant county planning director. The bridge was named for the nearby Bunker Hill Farm.

The 81-foot Bunker Hill Bridge was built in 1894 to cross Lyle Creek using a version of the Haupt Truss.

For the story, go to: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/08/31/3490380/catawba-county-plans-trail-from.html.