Todd, NC - In 2014, Martha Enzmann purchased land in Todd, NC for the eventual purpose of creating a public space and river access for recreation. With the help of Blue Ridge Conservancy (BRC), the North Carolina Land and Water Fund (NCLWF), and the Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC), that dream has been realized with the dedication of Percies Park and river access. BRC recently acquired the 18-acre tract from Enzmann, which includes parking, a trail that is currently being developed, and the popular river access by Railroad Grade Road and Big Hill Road.

*Friends and supporters gathered in Todd for the dedication of the park, trail, and river access.*

“We’ve been working on this since 2014,” said Enzmann to a group of friends and supporters who gathered for the dedication on a chilly December morning. “My promise was always to make it a park, and it has taken many seasons and many people. I say we are all part of a growing organism, like a tree. Pieces grow and change, and seasons have challenges, which we have certainly had this year!”

Enzmann purchased the land from the heirs of Walter and Annie Cook, and thanked them for their support of the public access project. One heir, Haskell McGuire, attended the dedication and said that that family would be “proud and delighted” to see what was happening with the land. Enzmann named the area “Percies Park,” after her mother (noting that it is pronounced “Per-cee-us”). The top of the trail is called “Ompas Knob,” after a Cook family legend.

*(L)- “Ompas Knob” at the top of the trail, (R)- Eric Hiegl, Kin Hodges, and Martha Enzmann in front of the Percies Park sign in Todd.*

“Martha has been generous, forward-thinking, and patient with this project,” said Eric Hiegl, BRC’s Director of Land Protection. “We are excited to celebrate this. One of BRC’s main interests is public access, and this is our third river access project. We are committed to making natural resources available to everyone, whether they fish, canoe, kayak, or however they enjoy the outdoors.”

Kin Hodges, the New River Fisheries Biologist for WRC, has worked with Enzmann since the inception of the project. “We’re all similar branches on the same tree Martha was talking about,” he says. “We look at projects that protect and help the river and access, and when this came along, we were excited. It was a no-brainer to be involved.”

*This drone photograph from fall of 2024 shows a rough outline of the property.*

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are,” goes the famous quote by Theodore Roosevelt that Enzmann recalled from the film “An Inconvenient Truth,” As she dedicated the park to her parents and opened the space for public recreation in perpetuity, she added: “And do it now.”

BRC, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit land trust, partners with landowners and local communities to permanently protect natural resources with agricultural, cultural, recreational, ecological, and scenic value in northwest North Carolina.

Blue Ridge Conservancy Celebrates New Park and River Access in Todd