April 20, 2026
Jonathan Rich
Brevard Beagle
Section 2 and Section 3 on this map will be named the Bailey Loop and the Bailey Connector within the city-owned Braken Preserve. City of Brevard
Monday night Brevard City Council gave official names to new two trails within Bracken Preserve.
In December, Council members designated a new trail on the 395-acre property connecting downtown Brevard with Pisgah National Forest as the Mac Morrow Trail for the former city councilman and local business leader.
Now the Bailey Connector and Bailey Loop, named after an African-American family that was one of the early settlers in Transylvania County, will be available for outdoor enthusiasts in 2027.
Names for the two new trails were proposed to the city’s Parks, Trails and Recreation Committee in February.
An initial suggestion was to honor the legend of the Blackfoot Native American woman known as “Laughing Water” who was said to be one of the area’s early settlers that escaped slavery to live in Western North Carolina.
Research by local historians, however, could not confirm the validity of those historical legends and found the only references of “Laughing Water” were from one published oral history that had not been historically verified.
Despite sinage in the preserve already explaining the legend of Laughing Water to visitors, Brevard Mayor Pro Tem Aaron Baker said the new trails need to have actual historical roots in Brevard.
“Honoring that history which is documented is the right way to do this,” Baker said. “As a history major at Brevard College … rather than honor a potential legend, I think we should honor the real families that were in this area.”
“While ‘Laughing Water’ would have been an awesome name, it turns out it is pretty much just a name,” added Councilman Lauren Wise. “Bailey is a real historical family who risked a lot to settle this area. This is just a small way we can celebrate our own history … It’s good to find out some of these things aren’t true because it leads to a more relevant truth.”
“I guess so we won’t be the laughing stock, Bailey is a good name,” joked Councilwoman Pamela Holder.
The city has owned the Bracken property due west of downtown for more than a century, but it didn’t open to the public until July of 2012.