Bike trails growing at Garrard Park
A group of dedicated biking and hiking enthusiasts are starting this new year the same as they started the last — adding paths to the GE Trails at Garrard Park.
The first phase of trails was dedicated in February when the late Bobby Garrard — son of Dr. J.L. Garrard, for whom the park is named — cut the ribbon to open the complex that featured a designated bike trail and one designated walking trail that meandered through approximately 50 acres of the larger 123acre tract that General Electric donated back to the city.
The land was originally owned by Dr. Garrard and sold to GE over half a century ago.
Harry Brock, a longtime cyclist, said the volunteers (some directly associated with TRED, others just working independently) are adding trails within the original footprint.
“We’re adding more technically flowing stuff,” Brock said. Elevated wooden paths lead to sharply banked turns and Brock said the group is planning to add a double set of rolling ramps.
Trail-builder Billy Nicholson said the new section Brock referred to is about a half-mile long, and with the addition of yet another half-mile section, work should be completed in that section.
Volunteer Steve Kight said ideas for some of the ramps and obstacles come from riding at other sites.
“You see what you’d like to ride on, and what other people like to ride on, and you try to re-create it here,” Kight said. “We don’t have any elevation, so making the trail features will draw more people.”
Nicholson, who helped lay out the trails originally, said the biggest challenge has been dealing with the low-lying areas that hold water after rain.
He said Bill Thornton helped with that by donating concrete pavers. Crews have also added additional boardwalks to help avoid some of the wet areas.
Kight said the thing that excites him the most about the new park is the use by families. Brock said he was really pleased with the use the trails at Garrard Park have gotten over the past ten months. He said a lot of people use the walking trail with their dogs.
“It’s really a nice natural place that people can take their animals,” he said.
Brock and Kight also said some preliminary work on trails on Blossom Hill in North Rome
has gotten underway recently.
“We’re laying some stuff out, but we’ve got to make sure we stay far enough away that the water department is happy with it,” Brock said.
Kight believes a series of terraces are located on the west side of Blossom Hill, well below the waterworks, which were
constructed as erosion control measures by the Works Progress Administration — the most ambitious of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt postGreat Depression public works agencies.
Volunteers are in the process of clearing off those terraces and scraping out more well-defined trails.