Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
City planning Saddle Up work
Flood-prone trail at Kessler Mountain park to get improvements
FAYETTEVILLE — One of the more popular trails at Kessler Mountain Regional Park will get a makeover to abate frequent flooding and to create a loop around the sports complexes.
The city was awarded a $75,000 federal Recreational Trails Program matching grant last year for trail enhancements at Kessler Mountain. The city’s match is $18,750.
Park staff decided to work on the Saddle Up trail running along the southern end of the park. The trail, built about three years ago, is popular but problematic, said Ted Jack, park planning superintendent.
“We know it is popular, but it also suffers from being hard to hike if there has been any rain recently,” he said. “Most trails are good to go very shortly after a rain, but the area Saddle Up goes through has a lot of long running seeps that constantly send water down on the trail.”
Rock Solid Trail Contracting in Bentonville came in as the lowest bidder on the project to do the work at $75,000. The bid came in lower than expected, Jack said.
State law says the city must accept the lowest bid. The cost of the entire project needs to come out to at least $93,750, otherwise the city would leave federal money on the table, Jack said. Plans call for the city to armor the trail, meaning using large, flat rocks to create hard surfaces to walk or bike along. It also plans to fill in some gaps between other trails and roads at the park to create a loop. A seating area also could go at the highest part of Saddle Up, where users could get a great view of the rest of the park and much of the city, he said.
Jack told the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, a resident-led advisory panel to the City Council, on Wednesday the goal is to make the trail more functional for longer periods of the year.
“Saddle Up was built in some really tough territory, particularly water. There’s only a little bit of the year when it’s not trouble to be on that trail,” he said. “A lot of this work is geared toward moving that trail to more of an all-weather trail. There will be a lot of armoring and short bridges to get across wet areas and so forth.”
Saddle Up starts at the southeast corner of the park and forms a “U” shape along the park’s southern edge. The proposed loop would continue along the western edge of the park, eventually connecting to the road north of the baseball fields. The road runs the length of the northern and eastern edges of the park. The loop would be about 2 miles.
Park staff eventually would like to see the northern portion of the loop stretch into private land north of the park, Jack said. Depending on how far the loop could stretch, it could have another one-half mile or so added to it, he said.
The 231 acres north of Kessler Mountain is owned by South Cato Springs Holdings, a company partnering with the Supporting Lifelong Success Community nonprofit group to create a campus for neurodiverse adults.
Concepts for the SLS Community project show
rows of homes, a commercial area, outdoor spots for recreation and leisure, and facilities providing medical and basic services for neurodiverse people. Neurodiversity or neurodivergence refers to people with autism, Down syndrome or other differences in brain functioning that are not considered neurotypical.
Park staff have been talking with the landowners to the north about the possibility of having the loop stretch into the private land. Jack said any construction likely would be a few years away if an agreement is made.
Ryan Tharp of Bentonville and Heather Hamilton of Fayetteville sat on a bench built by a local boy scout troop near a stream on Friday afternoon. The pair of friends said they frequent the park almost weekly as a way to get a bit of exercise and release some endorphins.
“When you’re around nature, and when you’re outside getting fresh air and sunshine, it just makes you a happier person,” Tharp said.
The two said they enjoy the Saddle Up trail because it doesn’t have a steep incline and certain spots provide superb interaction with nature. There’s a pond near the top of the mountain where deer come to drink. Huge rocks of the bluffs help provide some life perspective, Hamilton said.
“This is big, and problems seem smaller in nature,” she said.
Both said they had experienced oversaturation along the Saddle Up trail at times. Nearby streams can wash out portions of the trail, making it difficult to traverse. Hamilton said she likes to engage with nature, but she doesn’t necessarily need to fall in some mud to become fully immersed.
“I think the last time we were on it it was pretty muddy,” Hamilton said. “I don’t mind a little mud, but obviously you don’t want to be slipping and sliding.”
Jack said construction is probably about three months away. The city’s purchasing department is evaluating the bids. Once that happens, with Rock Solid Trail Contracting the likely winner, a contract will go to the City Council for consideration.