For years a dirt path ran from the back of Town Creek Park toward Creekview Drive in MillBridge. Nobody had officially built it. It was a shortcut that people kept using. In April 2026 the Town of Waxhaw closed it. When it reopened in September, it was an official, all-weather trail, and the town held a ribbon-cutting at the Town Creek Park trailhead on October 16.
The roughly 2,870-foot trail joins Town Creek Park to the trail that runs south through MillBridge. The town's announcement says the rebuilt segment is now part of the Carolina Thread Trail network, "contributing to a regional non-motorized corridor that extends from Waxhaw into South Carolina." Town Creek Park used to be a 19-acre neighborhood park with a playground and a pavilion. Now it is the north end of a trail that runs past MillBridge to a suspension bridge over Twelve Mile Creek and on into Walnut Creek Park in Lancaster County.
What changed on those 2,870 feet
The Town of Waxhaw's ribbon-cutting announcement lists the work. Blue Ridge Trail Works built it over the summer.
- The whole path was regraded and resurfaced with geoweb and compacted crushed concrete, giving it a slip-resistant surface that holds up in wet weather
- A new 16-foot bridge now crosses a secondary drainage channel on the west side
- Low spots got raised, causeway-style sections with boardwalks that let water flow underneath
- New drainage pipe runs across the corridor to carry off stormwater
Money came from the Waxhaw Connectivity Fund, the town's Capital Improvement Plan and a $60,000 Carolina Thread Trail Implementation Grant. The MillBridge Homeowners Association is credited as a partner. Parks and Recreation Director Dena Sabinske called the project "a great example of what can happen when we identify community priorities and work together to turn those priorities into reality." Mayor Robert Murray said the town hopes the trail "becomes a place where residents walk, explore, spend time with family, and create memories for years to come."
The surface matters because of what it connects. The Carolina Thread Trail map listing for the Town of Waxhaw segment still describes two pieces. One is a paved trail that starts in Town Creek Park and connects to the trail in the Prescot neighborhood. The other goes through the MillBridge subdivision and connects to the rest of the Twelve Mile Creek Trail. The rebuilt path joins those two pieces at Town Creek Park.
The route, south to north
Here is how the corridor fits together, starting at the state line and walking north toward the park. Check a current map before you count on an unbroken walk end to end. Some trail listings were written before the September reopening.
- Walnut Creek Park, Lancaster, South Carolina. Lancaster County runs this 60-acre park, which has ball fields, tennis courts, two playgrounds, a picnic shelter and restrooms. The county lists a 3.5-mile trail. The Carolina Thread Trail map lists the South Carolina segment at 3.7 miles of natural surface, boardwalks and sidewalks, rated moderate and open to mountain bikes.
- The Cross-State Suspension Bridge. A 170-foot suspension bridge spans Twelve Mile Creek and links the South Carolina trail to the North Carolina segment.
- The MillBridge section. This natural-surface stretch runs through the MillBridge subdivision and connects to the rest of the Twelve Mile Creek Trail.
- The new link, Creekview Drive to Town Creek Park. This is the 2,870-foot trail that reopened in September.
- The paved Town Creek and Prescot path. It starts in the park and heads toward the trail in the Prescot neighborhood. The Thread Trail map lists the Town of Waxhaw segment at 1.4 miles one way, rated easy, paved and suitable for bikes. Leashed pets are allowed, there are no fees, and hours are dawn to dusk.
The surface changes as you go. The northern end is paved and easy, the new link is crushed concrete, and the South Carolina end has natural surface and boardwalks. If you're pushing a stroller, the stretch around Town Creek Park is the easy one. If you want more of a workout, head toward the bridge.
Picking a trailhead
There are three places to start, and the main difference between them is restrooms.
| Starting point | Address | What's there |
|---|---|---|
| Town Creek Park | 4240 Waxhaw-Marvin Road | Playground, pavilion, butterfly garden, Carolina Thread Trail trailhead; the Thread Trail map lists no restrooms on this segment |
| H.C. Nesbit Park kiosk | 1304 H.C. Nesbit Park Road | The town's suggested parking for bridge visitors, about a quarter-mile walk to the bridge on natural surface |
| Walnut Creek Park | 10521 Walnut Creek Parkway, Lancaster, SC | 50 parking spaces, restrooms, open dawn to dusk |
On the Town Creek Park page, the town describes the park's greenspace, playground and trailhead but lists no restroom. The town's five-year plan shows that's a known gap. The FY 2027–2031 Capital Improvement Plan, part of the FY 2026–27 budget adopted June 9, 2026, includes a $500,000 restroom for Town Creek Park. That item is in the plan's lowest priority tier, priority 3. A $275,000 lighting plan for the park's parking lot and multipurpose field is listed one tier higher, at priority 2. For now, if you're walking with kids or out for a long time, either start at Walnut Creek Park, where the restrooms are, or plan the trip so you end there.
If you just want to see the suspension bridge, the Nesbit Park kiosk gets you there fastest. The town's greenways and trails page points bridge visitors to that lot for the quarter-mile walk.
The gap that's still open
The new link connects Town Creek Park to the trail south toward the state line. Going north, the trail still stops short of the shopping on Providence Road.
The town is working on that piece next. In August 2025, Waxhaw announced a $250,000 matching grant from North Carolina's Great Trails State Program for the Twelve Mile Creek Greenway Prescot Connector. The connector would follow the creek from Town Creek Park to the Prescot neighborhood and the Prescot Village commercial district. It includes a 120-foot bridge over Twelve Mile Creek, built to ADA standards. The town says the finished project would create a nearly 4-mile continuous route from the NC/SC suspension bridge to NC-16.
The FY 2026–27 budget sets up a $500,000 fund for the project, split evenly between the state grant and a $250,000 town match drawn from the General Fund. The budget describes the bridge as linking the existing greenway system to more neighborhoods on the south side of Twelve Mile Creek. The town said it planned to open an informal request for proposals during the 2026–27 budget year to hire a contractor to design and build the trail. No construction date has been announced.
The other end of the connector already has a reason to walk there. Lowes Foods is open at 3412 S. Providence in Prescot Village, with store hours of 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, according to the Lowes Foods store locator. The Charlotte Business Journal reported the opening in January 2026. More is coming nearby. The Charlotte Observer reported in March 2026 that a proposed PNC Bank branch at 7521 Prescot Glen Parkway is expected to open in summer 2027. The town's announcement lists linking neighborhoods, a new shopping center and Town Creek Park among the connector's main benefits, along with more foot traffic for local businesses.
What else the plan lists
Several other trail projects in the FY 2027–2031 Capital Improvement Plan would build on the Town Creek Park link. A five-year plan is a planning document. Each year's budget still has to approve the actual spending, so these are intentions, not schedules.
- Town Campus to Town Creek Park greenway sections: $100,000, priority 2
- Replacement of the suspension bridge segment of the East to West Greenway: $300,000, priority 2, with the cost shared with South Carolina
- Twelve Mile Creek pedestrian greenway at Prescot Village: $286,000, priority 3
- Carolina Thread Trail connection to Coldwater Mill, which would turn an HOA greenway into a public connection: $250,000, priority 3
The suspension bridge item is the one most trail users will notice. It's still on the plan, and current town and county trail pages describe the route and the bridge with no closure notice. If replacement work happens, the bridge is the piece that ties the North Carolina and South Carolina sections together, so a temporary closure there would split the route.
Put together, the town is gradually turning Town Creek Park into a central hub of the trail system. The September link connected the park to the trail south toward the bridge. The Prescot Connector would carry it north to the grocery store and NC-16, and the Town Campus sections would connect it toward town. The Carolina Thread Trail now counts more than 425 miles of open trail across 15 counties and two states, and this short path behind a neighborhood park is one of its newest pieces.
When the Prescot Connector moves forward, Town Creek Park will be within walking distance of more homes and shops, and that kind of change starts showing up in what buyers ask about. At Carolinas Real Estate Partners, we track projects like this across Waxhaw street by street. If you're curious how trail access and the new Prescot Village businesses figure into your home's value, request a home valuation and we'll go through it with you.
