Hey all, I know I'm still new around here, but I wanted to let you know a new trail has opened at the USNWC within the past week or so. It's called Panda. It's so new, there are still temporary signs at the trailhead. It's about a mile, and it's a fairly flat beginner loop, the flattest of any trail I've been on at USNWC. It does have a couple of small mounds for some minor jumps, but the real cool part is that part of it takes you through a section of bamboo forest which is really neat - hence the name.

A note: it is not located near the other trails. In fact, it is across the road over Belmeade Dr., the road the main entrance is off of. If you cross the street from the entrance headed towards Mt. Holly Huntersville Rd., make your immediate next right onto Old Belmeade Dr., and you can see where the trail starts, up a minor incline. No sign yet. 

Anyway, wife and I took a few loops on it yesterday, it's pretty simple but neat, so I thought I'd share.

Is this, indeed, a trail created and managed by the USNWC?  It seems odd that their reach would be so far out even with trail sections south of Belmeade so close.  I see Belmeade as their northern edge.

They own much of the land out there.  Started buying it up to stop encroachment from other developments.

Of coarse now every time I hear Panda I won't be able to get that stupid Desiigner song out of my head, Thanks WWC

Wow!  The further out they expand, the less usable the outer limits will potentially be.  As far as I know there is no official hop off and on point from Academy near the Panda trail head.  I actually wanted this just last Thursday to support a transition from East/Tributary over to Academy from where Tributary has a connector opening near the center's Belmeade entrance.

A rider must be okay with all the trail distance that gets him or her to and from the outer trail(s), and this may make for too much riding overall for some.  LNSP has this challenge with Wildlife, Fallstown, and Fox Loops.  To ride these, once must either commit to Laurel's 9.75 miles or access them via the asphalt.  Obviously, the most direct and shortest route to Panda would be along the Parkway all-weather trail.

While I did get on to Academy from the school side eventually, it was not done via the opening I had intended to use since this one must only be open and clear during Winter when plants have died off.  I wasn't comfortable with trekking through a large, too-deep, and too-overgrown swell in my bike shoes and shorts, so I went looking for other options along the tree line and entered near the run off pond for the school.

I rode this last week, then rode down to the CTT to come back. That wasn't a bad loop, other than a little pavement. It's clear there will be more trail to come, and wouldn't be surprised if CTT links up to the Belmeade side of things eventually. 

Keep up the great work!

According to the USNWC map, only the outbound section is closed ("needle" vs "CTT"). The inbound section clearly hasn't gotten traffic, but it's not impacted by the restoration project. 

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Anyone have an idea?

map says 38.15 not including last loop added
49erRider wrote on 09/14/18 at 11:31pm:

I liked the rainbow umbrella

collin_i wrote on 09/12/18 at 1:17pm:



FWIW that's not needle (Needle isn't closed its the end of the section now called tortuga).  I don't think its got a specific name but its the original CTT trail after academy is best way to explain it and I agree I do not believe the part coming back is closed.   

I think it'll be a lot better once the trail next to smokie is open as it will hook into CTT coming back.  The question is how will they handle crossing traffic as it can be dangerous when you have a ton of people or biking events.