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EDITOR’S NOTE: This feature appeared in the March 10, 2021 Wilkes Journal-Patriot as part of its series of articles on the trails of northwestern North Carolina.
North Carolina’s 1,120-mile-long Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST) corridor stretches from the top of 6,643-foot Clingman’s Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Jockey’s Ridge on the coast.
About 700 miles of the trail are complete, including a 44-mile section from the intersection of the Blue Ridge Parkway and U.S. 421 at Deep Gap in Watauga County to the Parkway’s Devil’s Garden Overlook on the Wilkes-Alleghany county line.
This 44-mile section mostly weaves in and out of Wilkes County where it borders Ashe and Alleghany counties. It’s never very far from and often crosses the Parkway, yet allows something approaching a feeling of wildness due to the surprisingly wide Parkway corridor. ....

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