With a trailhead within Memorial Stadium and Mountainside Park, Beaucatcher Overlook Park offers stunning views of downtown Asheville and beyond.
Features
- Natural surface trails
- Scenic overlooks
History
Faced with dwindling green space at the arrival of the new millennium, the City of Asheville began acquiring more land for parks and greenways to increase social well-being and preserve the natural beauty of the city. Around 80 acres were secured for multiple APR projects between 2002-2008, including 30 acres for Beaucatcher Overlook Park through the help of Trust for Public Land and the North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund.
Memorial Stadium and Mountainside Park already included portions of the western slope of Beaucatcher Mountain and the creation of an expansive overlook park along the mountain can be found in the City of Asheville’s first comprehensive plan. The forested slope with previously-inaccessible public views of downtown and the surrounding mountains allowed the plan’s vision to be realized while preserving a substantial urban forest which was becoming increasingly rare within the city.
Beaucatcher Overlook Park features a natural surface trail that connects Mountainside Park to White Fawn Gap, the former site of an 11-million gallon reservoir that served as the city’s main water storage until the 1950s which may also become its own overlook park in the future. Planned greenway connectors and Nasty Branch Greenway will reunite the Southside neighborhood with Memorial Stadium, a connection that was severed by multiple urban renewal initiatives in the 1970s and 1980s. Beaucatcher Greenway is another planned connection to lead from Memorial Stadium to the historic – and reputedly haunted – Helen’s Bridge.
But, where does the word “beaucatcher” come from? In the 19th century, boys and girls went to separate schools on opposite sides of the city and young couples would meet on the mountain’s trails to “catch their beaus.” That’s how the mountain got its name, according to local legend.
Do you have photos or stories to share about Beaucatcher Overlook Park? Please send them to cbubenik@ashevillenc.gov so the City of Asheville can be inspired by the past as we plan our future.
Photo and Image Credits
- View of Asheville from Beaucatcher Mountain, circa 1889. With 14,694 inhabitants in 1900, Asheville was the third largest city in North Carolina and would grow to 50,000 by 1930. During this short-lived, rapid growth spurt, a city of parks, plazas, and parkways was envisioned in the first comprehensive city plan. A spending spree brought an unprecedented number of publicly-funded projects including Recreation Park, Asheville Municipal Golf Course, McCormick Field, Memorial Stadium, and several others. Courtesy of University of North Carolina Asheville Special Collections.
- Friends of Beaucatcher Overlook Park envision greater connections between Memorial Stadium, the former White Fawn Reservoir, and surrounding neighborhoods, as seen in this Asheville Citizen-Times article from April 11, 2017.