A steep gravel driveway rising to a house, edged with stone.

Snow Removal · Asheville

Snow Removal and Plowing in Asheville, NC

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

Plowed, salted, ready to drive.

Asheville sits in a bowl with every road out of it going uphill, so a snow here is mostly a problem of grade. The flat streets clear. The steep drive in West Asheville, the cove road off the Swannanoa and the north-facing church lot do not. McKinley plows, salts and hauls snow across the city, for homes and for businesses, from the same Asheville base.

Free on-site estimates
Homes, private roads and lots
Based in Asheville

Call (828) 540-6856 Get a Free Estimate

Snow Removal · Asheville

Snow removal in Asheville

What an Asheville winter actually does

Asheville does not get the snow the Northeast gets. Most winters bring a few real snows and more ice than snow, and freezing rain is the bigger problem than depth. What makes it hard is the ground. A light snow on a steep street, or on a drive that climbs out of a cove, turns into packed ice under the first set of tires. On a hill that is all it takes to keep a car at the bottom.

The other problem is shade. A north-facing slope, a drive under hemlocks or a lot on the shaded side of a ridge can hold ice for days after the sunny side of the street is dry. Melt runs across the surface in the afternoon and freezes again at dusk. Most of the calls that matter come from those spots, not from the open, flat ground along the rivers.

Who plows the streets and who plows the rest

Inside city limits, the City of Asheville handles the city streets, and NCDOT handles the state routes through town and most of the public roads out in Buncombe County. Both work their own priority lists, with the main roads first. None of that reaches a private drive, a shared gravel road up a cove, a church lot or the parking in front of an office. Those belong to whoever owns them, and in a snow they wait until somebody clears them.

That is the work McKinley takes on. He plows and treats private property: the drive, the road the neighbors share, the lot, the walks and the entrances. Where a private road meets a public one, the plow on the public road often leaves a bank of snow across the mouth of it. Clearing that bank is part of the job, because otherwise nobody gets out.

Steep drives and shared cove roads

Most of the residential work around Asheville is on grade. A drive cut into a hillside in North Asheville, a long gravel road that serves four or five houses up a cove, a switchback that ends at a house on a cut bench. McKinley builds and repairs drives like these the rest of the year, so he knows how they are put together: where the crown is, where the ditch runs and where the culvert sits under the snow. On gravel the blade rides a little high, so the stone stays on the drive and not in the yard.

Snow goes where its meltwater will not run back across the surface and freeze. On a shared road, the neighbors decide together how it gets plowed and who makes the call. One contract for the whole road is usually simpler than five separate calls on the same morning, and the snow removal page explains how that is set up and what it covers.

Lots, churches and offices in town

Commercial snow work in Asheville is about getting people from the car to the door without a fall. Office lots, apartment and condo parking, church lots on a hillside, medical offices and small retail along the main roads all have the same pieces: drive lanes, parking rows, the entrance, the walks and the steps. A lot on a slope needs salt where people walk, not only a clear lane for the car.

The tracked skid steer pushes and stacks snow in the lot. When the piles take up parking or block sight lines at the entrance, the dump truck hauls them out. Salt and ice treatment goes down on the walks and the steep sections, and again when the melt refreezes overnight. For a property that needs this every storm, a commercial snow contract sets it all up ahead of the season.

How an Asheville snow contract is set up

Before the first storm, McKinley walks the property with you. He looks at the steep sections, the shaded spots, the drains and culverts, where the snow can be stacked without blocking anything and where it would melt across a walk. Then the two of you settle what the contract covers: plowing, salting, walks and entrances, hauling if the piles get too big, and at what point in a storm the visit happens.

You decide what gets cleared first and how much is treated. A homeowner may want the drive only. An HOA may want the private road and the mailbox area. A church may want the lot and the walks before services. The estimate is free and given on site. Everything else McKinley does in town, from drives to drainage, is on the Asheville service area page.

A finished driveway running through open pasture.

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

Steep drives. Gravel and paved drives on grade plowed and treated where tires spin.
Shared private roads. Cove roads that serve several houses, cleared down to the public road.
Parking lots. Office, apartment and church lots plowed, stacked and salted.
Walks and entrances. Sidewalks, steps and doorways cleared and treated for foot traffic.
Snow hauling. Piles loaded out with the skid steer and hauled off in the dump truck.

Call (828) 540-6856 Free Estimate

Asheville and nearby

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

Asheville and the towns nearby

McKinley works out of Asheville, so the rest of Buncombe County is a short run. North up I-26, the long drives and ridge lots are covered at snow removal in Weaverville. East up the Swannanoa valley, the steep cove drives around Montreat and Ridgecrest are covered at snow removal in Black Mountain. South along Hendersonville Road, Arden and Fletcher are on the same route.

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 cleared building lot showing exposed red clay after site preparation.

A finished gravel driveway curving uphill to a residence.

A tracked skid steer with a mulching head clearing woodland.

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

Does the city plow private roads in Asheville?

No. The City of Asheville handles city streets and NCDOT handles state roads. A private road, a shared gravel drive or a parking lot is the owner's to clear, or the HOA's or road association's where there is one. McKinley plows and treats private property across the city, and a shared road is usually set up as one contract for all the houses on it.

Can you plow a steep gravel drive without pushing the stone off?

Yes. On gravel the blade or bucket is held a little high, so it leaves a thin packed layer and takes the snow, not the stone. McKinley builds and repairs gravel drives the rest of the year, so he knows where the crown and the ditch are under the snow. Steep sections and shaded turns get salt or ice treatment after the plowing.

What is the bigger problem in Asheville, snow or ice?

Usually ice. Asheville gets a few real snows most winters, but freezing rain and refreeze are what close drives and lots. A shaded north slope can stay icy for days after the rest of the street has melted. That is why most contracts here include treatment of the steep and shaded spots, not only plowing.

Do you set up seasonal contracts for churches and offices?

Yes. A seasonal contract is agreed before the first storm, after McKinley walks the lot. It sets what is cleared, what is treated, the order it happens in and the point in a storm when the visit comes. Churches often want the lot and walks done before services. Offices want the entrance and the walks clear for staff.

Where does the snow go when the lot fills up?

First it is stacked where it will not block an entrance, a drain or a line of sight, and where the melt will not run across a walk and freeze. When the piles start taking up parking or the lot has nowhere left to stack, the skid steer loads them into the dump truck and they are hauled off the property.

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