Trail News 

A $350,000 grant from the Oaklawn Foundation will allow Hot Springs’ nationally recognized Northwoods Trails System to expand.

“We are beyond grateful and excited for the Oaklawn Foundation grant award and what it will allow us to accomplish within an already amazing amenity for our community and visitors,” Northwoods Trails coordinator Traci Berry said. “We are stoked for the community ownership this has the potential of creating.”

Berry said the grant would fund four projects, including the expansion of the trail system around Sanderson Lake, the last of the three lakes on the 2,000-acre city property to have trails developed around it. The grant will also allow the upper two lakes on the property to be opened to limited non-motorized water activity. A kayak rental kiosk for water recreation use will also  be added along with a redesign and re-print of all trail signage, with the addition of water trail signage.

“The Oaklawn Foundation is proud to support the Northwoods Trails expansion, an investment that strengthens our community’s access to outdoor recreation and promotes healthy living for young and old, improving the quality of life for the residents of Garland County,” Briana Moore, chair of the Oaklawn Foundation Board, said.

Affordable Trail solutions will handle the trail building. The expansion will add nearly eight miles of trails, bringing the network to 40 total miles of trails. The plan also includes another mile of double-track that will be open to mountain biking, hiking and trail running.

Berry said the project around Sanderson Lake includes two miles of green trail on the west side of the lake and four miles of blue trail to the northeast and east side of the lake, as well as 550 linear feet of wider UTV trail for staff and emergency services to access the east side of the Sanderson Dam from Snakehead Drive.