Southeast

IMBA Trail News
Volume 13, Number 3
Summer 2000

Ten years of effort to gain access to singletrack trails in Wekiwa State Park near Orlando, Florida, paid off this spring when the park manager terminated an agreement that excluded bicycle use.

Local riders in Russellville, Arkansas, built a five-mile trail in a city park on US Army Corps of Engineers land. The success of a recent race (for charity) on the land and positive response from other user groups has encouraged the park to open another 100 acres for multi-use trails.

In the Lake Charles, Louisiana, area there is a threat of trail closure in Sam Houston Jones State Park, where a proposed golf course would eliminate trails built by local mountain bikers. Working with local user groups, obtaining information and support from IMBA, and getting assistance from the Office of Rural Development, Louisiana riders hope to convince park managers to locate the course elsewhere.

New trails opened May 17th at Briar Hills Estates, Kentucky. The new 56-acre park has about 6.4 miles of trail featuring challenging ascents and descents, water-covered rock, ravines, green meadows, creek crossings, tight turns, and switchbacks. On National Trails Day, SORBA dedicated a new five-mile loop trail in Woodstock, Georgia. The trail was named "The Dwelling Trail," in honor of volunteer Will Leichnitz, who died of a heart attack on March 25, 2000, while building the trail.

SORBA has also received notice of a NRTP grant award of $35,900 for the purchase of five tool trailers and trail tools

Jay Franklin, SORBA