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

Snow Plowing and Removal in Weaverville, NC

Long drives, kept open.

Weaverville is nine miles north of Asheville up I-26, on the ridge the first settlers called Dry Ridge, and it is long-driveway country. Houses sit well back from the road with a lot of fall between the house and the pavement, up Reems Creek, Ox Creek and the ridges either side of the interstate. McKinley plows, salts and clears those drives, and the lots in town.

  • Free on-site estimates
  • Long gravel drives plowed
  • Shared roads on one contract

Free on-site estimate

Where it is, how long the drive is, how steep it gets and what it is doing now.

Snow Removal · Weaverville

Snow removal in Weaverville

North of Asheville, a little colder

Weaverville gets the same kind of winter as Asheville, with a few real snows a year and more ice than snow. But the ground north of town climbs toward Mars Hill and the Madison County line, and the higher ridges hold snow longer. A drive that drops off a ridge road to a house below, or climbs from Reems Creek up to ridge ground, can be white and glazed while Main Street is only wet.

Freezing rain is the bigger problem than depth. On a long drive, a glaze on the steepest pitch is enough to stop a car, and that pitch is usually the one under the trees on the north side of the hill. The open stretches along the pasture clear on their own once the sun gets on them. The shaded pitch does not, and it refreezes every night until it is treated.

Who clears the roads up here

NCDOT maintains I-26, US 25 and US 70 and most of the public roads out in north Buncombe County. Inside town limits, the Town of Weaverville handles the streets it maintains. Both clear the main routes first. A private drive, a gravel road shared by the houses up a hollow, or a new subdivision's private street is not on anybody's list but the owners', and in a snow it waits until they get it cleared.

Where a private road meets a public one, the state plow often leaves a bank of snow across the mouth of it. On a drive that drops to the road, that bank sits at the bottom of the hill, right where a car needs its momentum. Clearing it is part of every visit, along with the turnaround at the house, so a car can face the right way before it heads down.

Long gravel drives and ridge lots

Most of the residential work here is a single long drive. McKinley builds and repairs gravel drives across north Buncombe the rest of the year, so he plows them knowing where the crown, the ditch line and the culvert under the drive sit. On gravel the blade rides high enough to leave a packed layer, so the stone is still on the drive in March and not in the ditch. The tracked skid steer has better footing on a grade than a wheeled machine.

Snow is pushed off the downhill side where the melt can drain away, not stacked above the drive where it will run back across and freeze. Culvert inlets and ditch lines are kept open so meltwater goes under the drive, not over it. Where the drive meets the road, the plow bank is cleared last so it is not pushed back in. The steep driveway snow plowing page explains how the climbs, the pitches and the switchbacks are handled.

Shared roads up Reems Creek and Ox Creek

When farms up Reems Creek and Ox Creek were split into house lots, the new houses often ended up on one private gravel road. Four or five owners use it and nobody owns the job of plowing it. In a snow that becomes five phone calls. One contract for the whole road, agreed by the neighbors before winter, is simpler: one route, one set of priorities, and the cost split however the owners agree.

A shared road is plowed from the public road up, with each drive opened off it in the order the contract sets. The narrow stretches, the creek crossings and the steep pitch near the top get the treatment, and the mailboxes at the bottom are left reachable. The snow removal page covers the rest of the work in a storm, including hauling and walk clearing.

Town lots, Main Street and new subdivisions

In town, the work is smaller lots: the shops and offices around Main Street, churches, and the parking at small businesses along the roads near the interstate. Lots are plowed and stacked clear of entrances and drains, and walks and steps are treated where people walk. The newer subdivisions on old farm ground have private streets and an HOA, and those can be contracted as one job with the entrance and the mailbox area.

Before the season, McKinley walks the drive, road or lot with you and settles what is covered, what is treated and when in a storm the visit comes. The estimate is free and given on site, and the number fits what was walked. The Weaverville service area page lists the rest of what McKinley does north of the city, from drives to drainage.

What it includes

What that covers

  • Long gravel drives. Plowed to the house with the blade high enough to keep the stone.
  • Shared private roads. Hollow and creek roads cleared from the public road up.
  • Steep and shaded pitches. Salt or ice treatment where tires spin.
  • Road mouths and turnarounds. The plow bank at the bottom and the turnaround at the top cleared.
  • Town lots and walks. Small business, church and HOA lots plowed and treated.
Weaverville and nearby

Weaverville and the towns nearby

Weaverville is the north end of the Buncombe County work and a short run from the Asheville base. Down I-26, the city's steep streets, cove roads and commercial lots are covered at snow removal in Asheville. East in the Swannanoa valley, the cove drives around Montreat and Ridgecrest are covered at snow removal in Black Mountain. Woodfin, Alexander, Barnardsville and Jupiter are on the same roads.

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 gravel driveway curving uphill to a residence.
A finished gravel driveway curving uphill to a residence.
Freshly laid and crowned gravel on a new driveway surface.
Freshly laid and crowned gravel on a new driveway surface.
A tracked skid steer with a mulching head clearing woodland.
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.

Does NCDOT plow my private drive or shared road?

No. NCDOT plows the state-maintained roads and the town plows the streets it maintains. A private drive or a gravel road shared by several houses is the owners' to clear. Many shared roads up Reems Creek and Ox Creek are set up as one contract agreed by the neighbors, so the whole road is plowed in one visit.

Will plowing push the gravel off my drive?

It should not. On gravel the blade rides high enough to leave a packed layer of snow and stone, so the plow takes the snow and leaves the drive. McKinley builds and repairs gravel drives the rest of the year and knows where the crown and the ditch sit under the snow. Any spring touch-up is a regular driveway repair job.

My drive drops off a ridge road. Can you clear it?

Yes. Drives that drop to the house are plowed from the top, with the steep pitch and the turn at the bottom treated. A turnaround at the house is cleared so a car can face uphill to leave. Snow is pushed to the downhill side, where the melt drains away instead of running across the drive.

Why does one part of my drive stay icy for days?

Usually shade. A pitch on the north side of the hill or under evergreens gets little direct sun in midwinter, so it melts a little and freezes again every night. That stretch needs treatment, and the snow beside it should be stacked where its melt drains away, not across the surface.

Can neighbors split one contract for a shared road?

Yes. One contract for the whole road is simpler than separate calls from each house. The neighbors agree what is plowed, what is treated and the order the drives are opened, and they split the cost however they decide. McKinley walks the road with whoever is organizing it and gives one number.

Free Estimate

Free snow estimate in Weaverville.

The address, how steep the drive or road is, and what needs clearing. McKinley walks it before the season and gives you the terms in writing.

  • Free on-site estimates across WNC and the Upstate
  • Residential drives and commercial lots
  • Seasonal, per push or per event, set up before the first storm

Free on-site estimate

Where it is, how long the drive is, how steep it gets and what it is doing now.

Snow removal by town

Snow removal where you are

Each town has its own page: what winter does there, what gets plowed and how the contracts are set up.

Need snow removal in Weaverville?

Call or text McKinley at (828) 540-6856 to walk your drive or shared road before winter.

Call NowFree Estimate