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Recreation Supervisor
Reservoir is built: 60 square feet, approximately 8 feet deep.
Town purchases
1800 acre tract ‐
Crystal Springs Watershed.
Town is unable to use reservoir as a water source –
Fire Department uses water source to fill trucks.
Town issues hunting permits to county residents. Some locals hike in the area – no Over 5 miles of established trails. established trails open. Implement Kids in Parks TRACK Trail program.
Crystal Springs Recreation Area 1
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2009 – Several stakeholders discover a new Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation initiative –Kids in Parks TRACK Trail.
Coincidently the director now CEO of the program is a native of Wytheville.
The TRACK Trail idea goes over extremely well and what better place than Crystal Springs Recreation Area (then Crystal Springs Watershed)
Planning
Funding
Design
Sustainability
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Resources
Need
Stakeholders
Potential partners
Trails are not cheap –
Cost associated with building a trail using a trail machine:
Easy Conditions ‐ $5,000 per mile
Typical Conditions ‐ $13,000 per mile
Hard Conditions ‐ $26,000 per mile
(these cost increase substantially if trail construction is completed by hand)
Trail cost estimates obtained from the International Mountain Bicycling Association’s Trail Solutions manual.
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Wythe Bland Foundation (WBF)
2009‐ WBF awarded the town a $60,000 grant to construct a stacked loop system of trails and to implement the Kids in Parks TRACK Trail at Crystal Springs Recreation Area – the first TRACK Trail in Virginia.
2011 – WBF awarded a $25,000 matching grant . Recreational Trails Program (RTP)
2011 – RTP awarded the town a $93,000 grant for trail construction.
The $93,000 grant and the $25,000 matching grant are being used to construct a 9 mile loop trail to be completed by 2014. Grants are great but . . . They are one time and don’t provide future revenue to support the trail
There might not be a budget for trail so how do you maintain trails in the future.
Build sustainable trails
Build a volunteer base to help maintain trails.
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Trail Design
There is more to a trail than simply cutting back trees, removing ground cover and putting in a sign.
 Guidelines – International Mountain Bicycling Association, National Park Service, US Forest Service
Professional Trail Builders – www.trailbuilders.org
What makes a trail sustainable?
‐Very little impact on the environment.
‐Resists erosion through proper design.
‐Blends with the surrounding area.
‐Construction/Maintenance preformed responsibly.
Sustainable trails also need to be enjoyable and challenging for visitors, this can be accomplished by understanding and managing their expectations and their use.
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2500
2201
2000
1709
1500
Attendance
1000
500
154
0
2009
2010
2011
Crystal Springs 2011 Demographics
0%
3%
1% 2% 2%
0%
Wytehville
Wythe Co.
Bland Co.
24%
Smyth Co.
50‐100 Miles Away
100‐300 Miles Away
68%
300‐500 Miles Away
500 + Miles Away
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