Have you looked at the riverbank below The Current Tavern lately? Parts of it look half cleared. That bank is the earliest visible stage of several projects that will change how people in Canton get to the Pigeon River. Most of that work is scheduled for the cold months, when nobody is floating past to watch.
Why the Bank Below Park Street Looks Unfinished
Haywood Waterways Association is working with EcoForesters to remove a stand of invasive bamboo on the bank below the tavern. The plan is to replace it with a thick buffer of native plants that will hold the bank together and shade the water. The bank looks unfinished because bamboo can't be removed in one pass. According to The Mountaineer, crews cut it down, wait for it to grow back, and then apply herbicide. Native plants go in only after the bamboo is dead and gone.
"We cut it down, and it has to oddly grow back, as weird as that sounds," Haywood Waterways director Preston Jacobsen told the paper. He added that the group had "been wanting to get that bamboo out of there for a while."
The tavern itself is helping pay for the work. Greg Elmore, Sherrill Rathbone and Tracey Crowley, the local owners who took over the former BearWaters Brewing space this year, offered financial support for the restoration. WLOS reported that The Current Tavern opened in May 2026 in the flood-affected former BearWaters building. The station also reported that the owners were working with Haywood Waterways on bank stabilization, including fall tree planting along the river.
A Tavern That Doubles as a River Landing
That parking lot already does more than serve diners. Cold Mountain Tubing checks customers in at The Current Tavern lot, drives them about a mile upstream, and lets them float back down to where they parked. So one patch of bank on Park Street is the end of a float trip, the view from a restaurant patio, and a restoration site all at once.
On the restaurant side, The Mountaineer's profile lists comfort plates sold as the "Recession Fill Up," fried bologna, and rotating local craft beer along with cider, wine and cocktails. The shaded patio looks out over the Pigeon, and the owners ran a summer concert series this year. The tavern's own site lists stacked burgers, wings and loaded fries on the menu. The Haywood Chamber held the official ribbon-cutting at 339 Park St. on August 8, with live music afterward.
This matters for the projects further along the river. The tavern lot works as an informal river landing because a business and an outfitter set it up that way. The town's own access points are still being designed.
Across From Sorrells Street Park, a Gazebo and a Fishing Spot
A short distance away, WLOS reported in June that work was set to begin on the riverfront gazebo across from Sorrells Street Park. The plans called for stone or brick pillars, new paint and landscaping. The station also reported that the town and Haywood Waterways were planning to add fishing access at the same spot.
Parking near Sorrells Park has changed too. The Canton ABC store, flooded out of its downtown building, reopened at 70 New Clyde Highway. Its old Main Street site was torn down to make room for downtown event parking near the park. That parking will serve whatever ends up on the riverfront.
Old River Road Is the Project With a Date on It
The biggest change upstream is at the 73-acre tract beside the Pisgah High School baseball fields on Old River Road. Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy bought it earlier this year with $730,000 in grant money from the Land and Water Fund. The land was placed under a conservation easement and handed over to the Town of Canton at no cost. The main stated purpose is flood storage, but The Mountaineer reported that the site is also meant for public use and river access.
Jacobsen presented a preliminary design at a Canton board meeting in September. Haywood Waterways has $227,000 in grants for design, permitting and construction. The design includes:
- A short circular drive off Old River Road so outfitters and the public can loop down near the river. Jacobsen made clear it is "not a ramp like a marina going down into the river with a vehicle."
- A small parking area near the edge of the road.
- Bank stabilization and native plantings to shade the river, which the easement requires.
- Some smoothing of the paths the high school cross country team uses.
"It's really just formalizing what already goes on during the baseball games."
Jacobsen said that at the meeting, as The Mountaineer reported. Baseball, Future Farmers of America and cross country events all stay on the site. Hours would be up to the town, and Jacobsen suggested dawn to dusk, like Canton's other parks.
The timing follows the same off-season pattern as the bamboo work. Jacobsen said crews "could be in the dirt as soon as January (or) February, completing by spring to have this set up for the summer season for our outfitters to use, like Cold Mountain Tubing, fishing guides, and the like." He was also clear that the drawing is "not firm and concrete." A final design is supposed to go back to the board later this year.
The River Sites, Side by Side
| Site | What's happening | Timing as reported |
|---|---|---|
| Bank below The Current Tavern, 339 Park St. | Bamboo removal, then native plantings | Underway this fall. Planting follows once the bamboo is gone |
| Gazebo across from Sorrells Street Park | Pillars, paint, landscaping, planned fishing access | Work was set to begin in June 2026 |
| Old River Road tract by the Pisgah fields | Circular drive, parking, bank restoration, river access | Preliminary design. Possible January–February start, aiming for spring |
| Former mill site corridor | Engineering design for floodplain benching and removing two low-head dams | Early planning |
The Mill Site Is the Long Horizon
The last row covers the biggest and slowest project. On March 4, 2026, Canton's board approved a purchase agreement with Two Banks Development for about 52.1 acres of the former 185-acre mill property. The deal totals $14 million: $12.5 million for roughly 26 acres in the first closing, and $1.5 million for the wastewater plant parcel in a later closing set for no later than 2031. According to Smoky Mountain News, town officials had not yet announced a specific redevelopment plan for the site.
The river part of that land is spelled out in a town request for qualifications issued in December 2025. It asks for preliminary engineering design for floodplain benching at the wastewater plant and former mill properties, and for removing two low-head dams downstream of Park Street. The document says the town is in early planning for future greenway and river access there.
What's on the Calendar Before Then
The riverfront is quiet this time of year, but downtown has one more evening on the calendar. Visit Haywood lists the season's last Mill Around Town on Main Street for Friday, November 27. The Canton Merchant Partnership hosts it on the last Friday of each month from April through November. Expect extended shop hours, deals, live music, and an open-air market of local makers between Academy and Adams streets. The market was new this year, and the April kickoff ran from 5 to 9 p.m.
The Current Tavern is a short walk down Park Street from the market. From the patio you can see how the bamboo work is coming along on the bank below. When tubing starts again, Visit Haywood lists Cold Mountain Tubing's hours as Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Mondays.
If you're wondering how Old River Road access or the mill site corridor could affect a home you own or one you're considering in Canton, I'm glad to walk the river stretch with you and talk it through. Nick Cocozziello follows these projects as they go before the town board. Let's Connect.
