The Winston-Salem Journal has the story. I found it via BooneWeb.
The High Country Council of Governments has identified and tentatively mapped 389 miles of proposed trails in a seven-county Northwest N.C. mountain region, an ambitious plan that’s intended to guide hiking-trail development for decades.
The 18-month planning project involved more than 150 people, including state and federal land managers, local government officials and members of trail groups and other organizations in Yancey, Mitchell, Avery, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany and Wilkes counties.
The trail plan has already been approved by the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation. The Council of Governments is now trying to get official endorsements by the region’s seven county governments.
The state is working with other regional councils to develop a statewide trail plan, including an interactive Web site that would show the trail network across North Carolina.