A long gravel driveway running between mown verges to a wooded property in Western North Carolina.

Snow Plowing · Asheville

Snow Plowing in Asheville and Western NC

Name: M&S Land Management
Address: Asheville, NC, US
Telephone: (828) 540-6856

Lots, roads and long drives.

Snow plowing around Asheville covers parking lots, private roads, mountain community roads and long driveways. On flat pavement the job is pushing snow to the right place. On gravel and grades it takes more care, because a blade can take stone with it and a steep road needs grip as much as clearing. McKinley plows with a tracked skid steer suited to mountain ground.

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Residential and commercial

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Snow Plowing · Asheville

Snow plowing around Asheville

Parking lots

A lot gets plowed in a planned order: entrances and drive lanes first so cars can get in, then parking rows, then the edges. Snow goes to the push areas marked on the site map, away from drains so melt water can get away, and away from the entrance so piles do not block sight lines or melt across the walk and refreeze. On a sloped lot, piles go on the low side so melt runs off the pavement, not across it.

Many lots around Asheville are cut into a hillside, with a retaining wall or a drop on one side and a bank on the other. That leaves far less room for snow than a flat lot in the Piedmont. When the push areas fill after a second storm or a long cold stretch, the piles get loaded out with the skid steer. See snow hauling for how that is done.

Private and mountain community roads

Private roads get no help from the state, the county or the town. Buncombe County maintains no roads, and NCDOT plows only roads on the state system. On a community road that climbs a ridge, the plow starts at the state road and runs the full length, clearing the steep pitches, the switchbacks, the mailbox area and each turnaround, so residents can get out and an ambulance or a delivery truck can get in.

These roads are usually gravel, often steep and often narrow, with a ditch on the uphill side and a drop on the other. Snow pushed into the uphill ditch blocks it, and melt water then runs across the road and freezes, so the ditch line stays open. Snow goes over the downhill side only where it will not slide onto a lower road or a neighbor's drive. Steep sections get grit.

Long and gravel driveways

A long gravel drive is plowed like a small road. The blade rides a little high so it keeps the finish stone, and it leaves a thin packed layer that protects the surface and gives tires grip. The drive is cleared full width so the edges stay visible, and the turnaround or parking pad at the house is cleared so nobody has to back down the hill on snow. Ditches and culvert inlets along the drive stay open.

If the drive is steep, the method changes again: grit on the pitches, care at the curves, and a plan for where snow goes when there is no flat ground beside the drive. That work has its own page, steep driveway snow plowing, since it is where most of the residential snow work in the mountains ends up, and where the most care is needed.

When the plow comes

On a contract, the trigger and the route order are written down before the season. Plowing starts when snow reaches the agreed depth, and properties are done in the agreed order. In a long storm a property may get more than one pass, and the contract says whether each pass is billed or the storm counts as one event. Without a contract, a call during a storm is fit in where the route allows.

Timing in the mountains depends on the road as much as the clock. A heavy wet snow on a steep road is often better cleared in stages than all at once at the end, so the packed layer stays thin instead of building into ice. Snow that falls and then freezes is far harder to move than snow plowed while soft, which is one reason steep roads often get a lower trigger.

What gets marked before winter

Snow hides the things a blade hits: curb ends, drop inlets, culvert headwalls, landscape rock, the edge of a gravel drive where it meets a ditch, and the top of a retaining wall. Before the season these get staked at the walk-through and drawn on the site map. Stakes go in during the fall, while the ground is still soft enough to set them firmly, and tall enough to stand above a deep drift.

After the season, any stone pushed off a gravel drive or road is set back and the surface regraded. M&S builds and repairs gravel drives and private roads the rest of the year, so the spring cleanup and any driveway repair and grading are handled by the same company that plowed it all winter and knows where the stone went.

A tracked skid steer with a mulching head clearing woodland.

Main snow page

Snow Removal and Ice Control

Plowing, salting, hauling and walk clearing for homes, private roads and businesses around Asheville.

See the page Talk to McKinley

(828) 540-6856

Call or text the address and what needs clearing: a lot, a drive, walks or all three. McKinley sets the route and the terms with you before the first snow.

Call now

What it includes

What that covers

Parking lots. Entrances and drive lanes first, then rows and edges.
Private roads. Plowed from the state road to the last house.
Community roads. Steep pitches, switchbacks and mailbox areas.
Long driveways. Cleared full width with a packed layer left on gravel.
Turnarounds and pads. Cleared so cars can turn and drive down forward.
Spring cleanup. Displaced stone set back and the surface regraded.

Call (828) 540-6856 Free Estimate

More snow and ice work

Main snow page

Snow Removal and Ice Control

Plowing, salting, hauling and walk clearing for homes, private roads and businesses around Asheville.

See the page Snow service

Commercial Snow Contracts

Seasonal, per-push and per-event snow and ice contracts, walked and mapped before the first storm.

See the page Snow service

Salting and Ice Management

Pre-treating, salting and refreeze visits for ice storms, freezing rain and shaded mountain grades.

See the page Snow service

Sidewalk and Entrance Clearing

Walks, entrances, steps and ramps cleared and treated so people get from the car to the door safely.

See the page Snow service

Snow Hauling

Snow piles loaded out with the skid steer and dump truck when a tight mountain lot has nowhere to push.

See the page

Plowing by town

Plowing work runs out from Asheville into the towns and the hollows around them. Local roads, grades and who plows the streets are covered on snow removal in Weaverville and snow removal in Waynesville, and on the town pages for Hendersonville, Black Mountain, Fletcher and Brevard, where the mix of state roads, town streets and private roads is a little different in each place.

How a snow customer gets set up

Set up before the first storm.

You call

Call or text with the address, how steep the drive or road is and what needs clearing: lot, drive, walks or all of it.

McKinley walks it

He walks the property before the season, notes the grades, the shaded stretches and where the snow can go.

Terms in writing

Seasonal, per push or per event, the trigger, salt and walks are written down before anyone needs them.

Cleared when it falls

When the storm comes, the property is worked in the agreed order and treated where ice will form.

On the ground

The machines and the crew.

These are photographs from McKinley's actual jobs: the same equipment and the same crew that run the snow routes. See more recent work.

A finished driveway running through open pasture.

A cleared building lot showing exposed red clay after site preparation.

Freshly laid and crowned gravel on a new driveway surface.

Questions about snow work

Questions people ask

Not seeing yours? Call (828) 540-6856 and ask McKinley, or read the guides.

Answers & guides

All guides

Do you plow private roads?

Yes. Private roads and mountain community roads are a large part of snow work in Western NC, because nobody public plows them. The road is plowed from the state road to the last house, including steep pitches, switchbacks, turnarounds and the mailbox area. One agreement with the association or the neighbors covers the whole length, so the plow does not stop at a property line.

Will the plow damage my gravel road?

Not if it is plowed for gravel. The blade is set to ride a little high and leave a thin packed layer, so it does not peel up the stone. Edges, ditches and culvert ends are staked before the season so the blade stays where it belongs. Any stone that does move gets set back and graded in spring.

Can you plow a narrow road with no shoulder?

Yes. A tracked skid steer is compact and holds well on narrow gravel roads with a bank on one side and a drop on the other. On those roads the plan for where snow goes matters most: not into the uphill ditch, not over the edge onto a lower drive, and not left across the road at a curve. That plan is set at the walk-through.

Do you plow parking lots for businesses?

Yes, for churches, offices, retail, rentals and HOAs. Lots are plowed in a set order, with entrances and drive lanes first, and snow is pushed to marked areas away from drains and doors. Salting, walks and hauling can be added to the same agreement, so one plan covers the whole site.

Can I call for a one-time plow?

Yes, if the route has room. Contract properties are done in their agreed order first, so a one-time call during a storm is fit in where possible. If you know you will need plowing every storm, a seasonal or per-push agreement set up in the fall puts the property on the route and gets it walked and staked ahead of time.

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