Mecklenburg County’s greenway network has grown to 85.5 miles, but reports of assaults and robberies near some trails have raised questions about how safe the expanding system feels to residents, particularly those walking or running alone. The county had 63 miles of greenways in June 2022 and 74 miles in January 2025. Park and Recreation says greenways are the amenity residents request most often. The trails offer a way to walk, run and bike away from traffic, but some stretches pass through wooded areas, under roads and behind neighborhoods. Shorter fall and winter days can leave people finishing a trip after dark. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police provided 12 reports of violent crimes on or next to greenways between Jan. 1, 2023, and May 20, 2026, in response to a records request. Among the most serious incidents in the records: - In April 2024, a 39-year-old woman reported being sexually assaulted and strangled until she lost consciousness near the 700 block of South Kings Drive. Police classified the case as forcible rape. - In June 2024, a 48-year-old woman reported being assaulted and robbed near Sharon Road West on Little Sugar Creek Greenway. The report said she suffered non-life-threatening injuries and that the assailants used a blunt object and a handgun to take cash and jewelry. - In January 2025, a 38-year-old man reported being threatened with a knife on Stewart Creek Greenway near Heathcliff Street. Police classified the incident as aggravated assault. The records also contained incidents with little apparent connection to greenway use, including a bullet fired into a woman’s home while she slept. Police did not provide information about crime trends on greenways or how officers patrol the trails. Citywide crime figures provide a different, broader measure: CMPD’s midyear report said overall crime was down 16% and violent crime down 8%. Reported rapes were down 12%, with 81 incidents at midyear in 2026 compared with 92 at the same point in 2025. Those figures do not identify where crimes occurred and count only incidents reported to police, so they do not establish what is happening on greenways specifically. Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation says it coordinates with CMPD and other law enforcement agencies and has park rangers who patrol the park system. Rangers are not sworn officers and must contact police when law-enforcement action is needed. The county has cameras at greenway parking areas, but not along the trails, which are largely in floodplains. It installs lights in tunnels and culverts, while most trail sections are not lit. Greenway mile markers, placed roughly every quarter-mile, give users location information they can share with 911 dispatchers. Signs at neighborhood exits also help emergency responders locate callers. The county recommends using trails with others, avoiding headphones in both ears and wearing reflective clothing around dawn and dusk. After earlier high-profile assaults, police have also advised trail users to tell someone where they are going and when they expect to return. For Dorothy Hart, a 34-year-old Charlotte resident who moved to the city about two years ago, walking with a group has helped make outdoor exercise feel more comfortable. Hart is one of nine walk leaders for Charlotte Girls Who Walk, whose outings at parks and greenways draw about 10 to 50 women, ranging in age from their 20s to their 50s. Some members joined because they wanted to feel safer walking, Hart said. She has heard from women who have been followed or harassed while alone, and some runners in the group carry pepper spray. Hart said she feels safe on greenways when walking with the group but would like to see more lighting. Reported crimes are only one part of trail safety. A person may change when or where she walks because she feels uneasy, even if serious incidents are uncommon across the countywide network. For Mecklenburg County, the challenge is not only responding to crimes but ensuring that residents feel able to use public trails on their own.