A 20-mile trail loop in Transylvania County now has a new name: Pisgah Passage.
The nonprofit Pisgah Conservancy said the name was selected out of nearly 300 entries in its “Name This Loop” contest over the summer.
“When I sat on my porch swing reflecting on what a fun name might be, I thought of ‘passage,’” Brevard resident Maria Whitehead, who won the naming competition, said in a statement. “It's both the physical corridor or pathway, and the act of moving through it — the trail and the adventure.”
The hiking and mountain biking loop connects Pisgah National Forest with Bracken Preserve and the City of Brevard. It includes parts of existing trails such as Stony Knob Trail, Joel Branch Road, Horse Cove Road, the Estatoe Trail, the Brevard Greenway and the Bracken Mountain Trail.
“If you have not explored this outdoor space, you are in for a treat, as this loop has one of the best experiences our Pisgah has to offer… and it is right here, in our backyard,” Brevard City Council member Mac Morrow said in a statement.
The name was selected by a committee that included representatives from the U.S. Forest Service, the City of Brevard, the Transylvania County Tourism Development Authority.
