A plan to build a suspension bridge for hikers in Wilkes County recently got a funding boost from a state program for nature trails.
Supporters call it the “Bridge of Dreams” — a 150-foot span next to Carter Falls just outside of Elkin. The state is chipping in $500,000 for the project through its Great Trails State Program.
To raise money locally, the Elkin Valley Trails Association provided colorful ribbons to donors and encouraged them to write their dreams on them.
Vice chairman Bob Hillyer says those strips will be attached to the bridge when it’s completed.
“We're going to have a ceremony where we reverently take down the dream ribbons from the bridge every year to make room for other people's dreams to go up,” he says. “And we'll have a dream master and dream catchers down in the stream, in case one gets away. And, you know, just make a whole big deal out of it.”
Gov. Josh Stein announced the Great Trails grant winners last week.
Eight other High Country projects also received funding ranging from $150,000 to $500,000. They include a new greenway in Alleghany County, expansion of the Virginia Creeper Trail in Lansing and improvements to the Glen Burney Trail in Blowing Rock.