As Grandfather's Backcountry Trail Program Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary, Responsibility For Trail Management Changes Hands

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Grandfather Mountain’s user-fee supported trails program, so it is almost fitting that the responsibility for maintaining those trails is being passed to a new generation of Grandfather rangers as Steve Miller hands over the duties of Trails Manager to his long-time assistant, Luke Appling.

The “modern” model for Grandfather’s trail program was introduced in 1978 by a fresh-faced college grad named Randy Johnson. On a backpacking pilgrimage to Grandfather Mountain in 1977, Johnson encountered ‘no trespassing’ signs and realized that the mountain’s backcountry was in danger of being closed because of hiker deaths and deteriorating trails.

Johnson met with Grandfather Mountain owner Hugh Morton to propose a fee-based trail management program. Having researched the concept in New Hampshire for the U.S. Forest Service and Appalachian Mountain Club, Johnson assured Morton the program would preserve the mountain while safely providing public access. The two struck a deal and in 1978 Johnson moved to the High Country to launch Grandfather’s user-fee supported backcountry program.

In 1978, rough and ready hikers seemed to think that Grandfather’s wilderness backcountry belonged to anyone who was tough enough to tackle it. Johnson was certain that he could change the paradigm by showing hikers that the user fees were an investment in a higher quality outdoor experience. He spent the next decade upgrading Grandfather’s trails more or less on his own: picking up litter, moving fallen trees from the track, installing water bars, rerouting paths around gullies and ditches, building camp sites and fire rings and adding trail markers and signage that helped hikers stay on the trail.

In 1988, Steve Miller became Johnson’s first full-time assistant. Under Johnson’s tutelage, Miller learned the nuances of trail placement, habitat conservation and erosion control. Miller took the responsibility for Grandfather’s trails onto his own shoulders in 1990 when Johnson departed Grandfather Mountain to pursue his second career as a travel writer.

Author of six books on the outdoors including Hiking North Carolina and Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway, today Johnson edits the award-winning in-flight publication of United Airlines, Hemispheres Magazine.

And after two decades as custodian of Johnson’s innovative user-fee supported trail program, 59-year-old Miller says it is time to hand the trail maintenance duties over to a younger man.

“My knees are beginning to give me problems,” said Miller. “It is time to let Luke (Appling) be the ground pounder. I can’t keep up with those young squirts.”

The 31-year-old Appling, who has served as Assistant Trails Manager since 2005, moves into the position of Trails Manager. He will be responsible for hiring, directing and supervising trails personnel while Miller retains some of the responsibilities for backcountry management such as liaising with The Nature Conservancy, the US Park Service and the US Forest Service.

The transition will further allow Miller to focus on his role as Grandfather Mountain’s safety officer. Miller does a commendable job of coordinating safety training for Grandfather’s staff in subjects ranging from how to operate a fire extinguisher to CPR and First Responder certification. He also keeps a vigilant eye on the attraction’s facilities and procedures to insure that Grandfather Mountain is a safe and healthy place for employees and visitors alike.

Appling’s objective as the new Trails Manager is to maintain Grandfather Mountain’s reputation.

“The image of Grandfather is that we have the best-maintained and most beautiful trails in the region,” he said. “I don’t want to loose that.”

As construction begins on the new visitor’s center at Grandfather’s summit, Appling’s first task will be to close the trails which previously originated at the Swinging Bridge parking lot. The rangers must now convince hikers to embark from a different parking area located three switchbacks below the top.

But convincing hikers that there can be benefits to changing old habits is nothing new at Grandfather Mountain. Thirty years after Randy Johnson first set out to prove that backcountry enthusiasts would be willing to pay for a quality hiking experience, the Grandfather Mountain trail program continues to win new fans daily.

“When people meet up with a trail ranger that they can talk to and learn more about the Mountain or when they see someone out there getting dirty fixing the trails, they have no problem paying to hike,” said Appling.

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