HOT SPRINGS -- The Visit Hot Springs tourism agency announced Wednesday that the Walton Family Foundation has awarded a $648,421 matching grant to help fund the first phase of a 44.6-mile trail project aimed at drawing more visitors to the city.
Visit Hot Springs Chief Executive Officer Steve Arrison said the partnership with the Walton Family Foundation to initiate work on the first 16-mile segment of the planned Northwoods Trail project will provide Hot Springs with an "important new tourism attraction aimed at mountain bikers and other outdoor enthusiasts."
The first segment of the project, which will be built on city-owned land, is expected to be ready by the fall of 2018.
"The new trails in the Northwoods property will be an enormous economic engine for our city and a world-class recreational facility for our residents and visitors," Arrison said. "It's almost impossible to express how grateful we are as a community to the Walton Family Foundation for helping provide the resources to get started on this new attraction."
The 2,000-acre tract of unspoiled woodlands is located north and west of Park Avenue. The restricted-access, old-growth forest surrounds lakes Sanderson, Dillon and Bethel, which were formerly used as water sources for the city's municipal water system.
Visit Hot Springs and the city have discussed the project since last year. The idea for the trail system came about from the desire to turn Hot Springs into a mountain biking destination and generate revenue for the city. A news release cited a study that said cycling supports 66,000 jobs and produces $621 million in retail and services in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.
Arrison said he got the idea for the trail system from representatives of Visit Bentonville, which set up a meeting between him and the Walton Foundation that was also attended by Hot Springs Parks and Trails Director Jean Wallace.
"More and more people are participating" in mountain biking, Arrison said. "We want to bring that back to our area."
Arrison said the agency received the grant several months ago. Arrison, on behalf of the Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission, submitted a memo Sept. 27 to the Hot Springs Board of Directors asking permission to build the first 14.75 to 16.6 miles of the trail system. The board approved the request Oct. 17 as part of its consent agenda.
Arrison said Visit Hot Springs and the city were planning to begin trail construction in the near future but would have had to settle for a more modest initial phase had the Walton Family Foundation not matched the amount that Visit Hot Springs has put forward.
"When you get a grant of almost $700,000, it really helps you speed up your timetable," Arrison said. "Obviously, it's the difference between starting with 2 miles of trail."
Construction of the first phase is estimated to cost $1.3 million. The section of trail would be built to the east of Cedar Glades Park and would allow hiking, as well.
Arrison said Visit Hot Springs and the city will meet today with Trail Solutions specialists of the International Mountain Biking Association. Trail Solutions, Arrison said, would be responsible for the construction of the trail.
Arrison said a start date will be determined at the meeting.
Neither Arrison nor Wallace gave an estimate as to when all 44.6 miles of trail will be completed, or the cost of the trail system's full completion. Wallace noted that the International Mountain Biking Association has never built a single-track mountain biking trail in the Ouachita Mountains and will be able to give a more accurate cost estimate when it surveys the land.
"All costs are different according to different regions," Wallace said.
After the second phase is complete, the end result will be a system of first-class biking trails on the property incorporating forested hills and three lakes, the release said.
"The city of Hot Springs, Ark., is poised to become the nation's next mountain bike destination," trail specialist Joey Klein of the bike association's Trail Solutions program said.
State Desk on 10/26/2017