Walking trail system eyed for Hoover Ridge

One hundred and eighty-two acres provides plenty of possibilities.

Expanded walking trails will soon join the multiple athletic offerings in the works at the county-owned Hoover Ridge property.

This winter, officials will start plotting improvements to two existing trails on the site adjacent to Madison Primary School. These include the current Madison County High School cross country course and a three-quarter mile trail within the wooded area of the property.

Officials hope to at least partially re-route one of the trails and put up mileage markers, color-coded trail signs and benches, according to Madison County resident Richard Young, who is assisting with the project.

Recent Hoover Ridge ballfield construction knocked out some segments of the previous cross country course, according to Young, who recently retired from the high school after 25 years.

“It changed the whole format of [the course], the access road [near the course] no longer exists like it used to,” said Young, who had served as the school’s track coach for eight years and cross country coach for nine years.

Subsequently, with the help of Madison County Facilities and Maintenance Department Director Ross Shifflett, the former coach re-routed the course late this past summer in order to serve the cross country team during its 2008 season.

However, Young hopes to improve the revised path during the coming months, he said.

“As we work on the trails, we hope to see a more permanent [cross country] course evolve,” he said. Some of the negative aspects of the cross country team’s current course include the trailhead’s closeness to Fairground Road, according to Young. This has created some traffic problems, in addition to a lack of space for parents to park and students to warm-up, the former coach said.

Officials will also work to improve the existing three-quarter mile trail that was reportedly created in 2004 by a Madison County Eagle Scout, Cary Hill, according to an Eagle story from the time.

It is near the site of Camp Crockett, a campsite often used by youth groups that was reportedly created in the wooded area of the property at the same time by Eagle Scout Tim Woodward. Both projects involved numerous volunteers and donated equipment, the 2004 story states.

Shifflett said that he hopes the current and future nature trail projects on the county-owned property can be completed in a similar fashion and is encouraging community residents to get involved.

“We anticipate pretty much doing it ourselves,” Shifflett said, referring to a question about whether the county plans to hire an outside company to create the trails.

“We’re hoping to do this just like Camp Crockett,” he said, adding that current Boy Scouts have offered to assist with the project.

Young, Shifflett and County Administrator Lisa Robertson (Kelley) plan to meet on the property sometime in the near future to start marking out the trails and get a plan down on paper, according to the former cross country coach.

Young has helped design jogging courses at other schools, including in Bath County, where he previously worked. In addition, he laid out a temporary course on the Young Farmers/Future Farmers of America property behind Madison County High School when the county hosted a regional cross country championship with 16 other schools about eight or nine years ago, he said.

“I had to create a course on the…grounds that could accommodate 120 runners,” Young said.

Officials hope to have improvements to these two trails completed this coming spring. Additional, longer walking trails may be added on the site in the future.
“The project could go on for the next three or four years,” Young said.

For information or to volunteer to help with this project, contact the Madison Facilities and Maintenance Department by calling (540) 948-6887.