Reservoir trail revamp now officially underway

In commemoration of National Trails Day 2023, City and County officials gathered alongside members of Yahoola Outdoors to announce $122,835 of improvements for the Yahoola Creek Reservoir/Lake Zwerner property. Construction is set to begin as early as next month.
The decision to green light the project came after the Board of Commissioners learned that Lumpkin County had been awarded $62,207 for trail expansion as a part of the Recreational Trails Program, a federal grant program. The Federal Highway Administration provided the funds, which were then allocated to select projects by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Board of Commissioners Chairman Chris Dockery praised the project, saying that improving quality of life for citizens is an important component to economic development.
“You have to talk about amenities you have in your community … so this is certainly an economic development project. The Board of Commissioners is behind it, not only conceptually, but financially,” Dockery pledged.

HOLLY RIDGE

Lumpkin County Community & Economic Development Director Rebecca Mincey began her comments at the Saturday morning ceremony by reminding the crowd that this is not the first addition to the popular local trail.
“Literally one year ago today … we opened a new section of trail,” Mincey recalled.
“[If] you go in from the boat ramp side, one mile in if you’re familiar with the trail there’s a steep, gnarly hill and now there’s a really lovely quarter-mile section we call ‘Holly Ridge,’" she said in reference to the quarter-mile long side trail.
Mincey said that the new section has been a success, judging by usage statistics she has observed on the online physical activity tracker Strava.
“I watch, and people are using that trail. It’s really exciting to see. One day … I came out after lots of rain, and there’s some sections of the trail that you know are just going to be just a mud pit. And in that new section that we built, there wasn’t all of the run-off because it was built properly. It’s very exciting,” Mincey said.

ACCESS GRANTED

After learning about the Recreational Trail Program, Mincey and Yahoola Outdoors President Tom Lamb looked to the recommendations from the 2021 Yahoola Creek Reservoir Master Plan and identified possible pedestrian hiking trails to submit for the grant.
“Tom and I have spent many hours walking in the woods out here, and one day we just kind of stumbled across this old road bed. We followed that road bed, and it just meandered beautifully through the woods, stayed at almost one contour line for the whole time: not as challenging as some of the other parts of the trail. And we just said ‘That’s the perfect application for a grant,’" Mincey said.
Although the grant application was submitted in October of last year, the Board of Commissioners was not notified of approval until this summer.

CONSTRUCTION TIME

After receiving word of the grant award, the Board went through an RFP [request for proposal] process to select a trail construction company. Mincey said hiring a vendor was a welcome improvement over the strictly volunteer work required for the previous trail expansion.
“If you were a volunteer with us before, it took about a year by hand … to construct that quarter mile. So we’re very fortunate to have the grant and support from the Board of Commissioners to be able to hire a trail construction company that can construct the trail … working with them, we can certainly bring this trail opportunity to citizens quicker than if we were doing it by hand,” Mincey stated.
Mincey indicated that there will still be plenty of volunteer opportunities associated with the new project, but they will not be quite as physically demanding as before.
“We definitely want to still engage with our volunteers. But the labor will be less intensive. It will be more finishing work, and maybe working with us on the signage and things of that nature,” Mincey explained.
Mincey said she anticipated crews would begin work in July, and that the new trails would be ready sometime in the fourth quarter of this year.
“I think it will be a very quick construction timeline, and then the trail will be open for use. So we’re very excited about that, and very appreciative of the Commissioners and Tom with Yahoola Outdoors for the ongoing support,” Mincey said.

NEW ADDITIONS

Mincey unveiled a map that depicts the original trail alongside the two new sections.
“There’s a two-mile section essentially from the back pavilion. You’ll get up in the wood line, and you’ll just meander around this old road bed and pop out at the spillway on that back side. That’s the longest part of the [new] trail,” Mincey explained.
She added that wayfinding markers would be placed at the two intersections where the new and existing trails meet.
The second improvement involves re-routing a short section of trail that runs alongside Hwy. 52.
“Sometimes it kind of ruins the experience when you get out here, and then all of a sudden, you’re right on 52. And so working with Tom, we’ve identified a way to cut through this wood line and kind of drop you out over at the pavilion. It’s around 1,000 feet of re-route there,” Mincey said.
Mincey also complimented the City Council for a separate project that resulted in the addition of a bathroom facility near the Lake Zwerner boat ramp and parking area.
“The City has recently brought the bathroom online down there, which I know is a great added amenity for users,” Mincey added.

FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS

Mincey said she anticipates more projects in the future will implement additional recommendations of the Master Plan, including a County effort to add a new parking area at the back end of the property.
“If you go all the way up to Community Helping Place, that’s Rock House Road. So the County owns that corner, and it connects to this property here,” Mincey said.
She indicated that the future parking lot would be close enough to the new two-mile section of trail that only a short tie-in trail would be required to connect them.
“And that, I think, is really nice for trail users because … the boat ramp parking lot is often occupied with other users. Obviously, you’re not going to go up there with a kayak. So that will be primarily for the trail users,” she said.
Meanwhile, City Councilman Johnny Ariemma said he is advocating for a new foot-traffic bridge. The bridge would serve as an alternative to a portion of the trail that connects the existing parking lots and brings hikers uncomfortably close to vehicle traffic on Hwy. 60.
“I was on a committee with the Mayor for awhile, working with the DOT to get a walkable bridge across there … It’s a pretty complex project. But it is going to happen, and we desperately need it. That’s forthcoming, and that will round out this whole project and make it a lot safer,” Ariemma said.
He added that another prior proposal to add a man-made beach to the reservoir could also become a reality at some point.
“Eventually, we’d love to see a beach here where people could swim. And you’ve always heard, ‘Oh, a freshwater reservoir is taboo to swim in.’ But we’re working on that, to try to get the permits to be able to have a little water activity out here, which would be wonderful,” Ariemma concluded.