Local Traildog volunteers gathered near Denby Bay of Lake Ouachita the week of January 14, 2019, to repair the planking on the trail bridge over the Gap Creek part of the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) Watchable Wildlife handicap accessible portion of the 45-mile-long LOViT trail system. The Gap Creek Bridge was originally constructed by a trail coalition team in 2010, lead by the US Corps of Engineers, and supported by the Traildog volunteers, with funding through a grant from the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. The thirty-foot-long pedestrian bridge is a low maintenance structure made of structural fiber and wooden planking. It rises almost twenty feet above the creek bed and is above the Lake Ouachita’s high water mark. During the construction stage, the Corps of Engineers constructed a temporary road from the Old Highway 270 road, known locally as “Blow out Bridge Road,” to the construction …Click to read the full article
Friday, May 3rd, the Traildogs received notification of approval for our National Recreational Trails Grant in the amount of $95,000, as requested. This grant will provide 80% of the $95K, or approximately $74,000, needed to complete the final 5.4 mile section of the trail from Brady Mountain Road to the Blakely Mountain Dam. The 20% matching requirement will be covered by in-kind volunteer support and trail donations. This eighth addition to the LOViT, when completed, will extend the Trail to its planned 45 miles of developed mountain biking and hiking trail. Our current plan is to begin construction of this final phase in the late fall of this year. We plan to put construction of this section of the Trail out for bids within the next 60 days. Congratulations to all who have contributed to the eight-year-long effort to develop the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail. Jerry
With any project as large as the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail, success is determined by both the dedication of the volunteers and the support of the business community. The LOViT Traildogs, on behalf of Friends of Lake Ouachita and the many people who utilize the Trail, would like to take a moment to give a special word of thanks and deep appreciation for two businesses that have never failed to respond to our many requests for support: Mountain Harbor Resort and Shangri-La Resort. The owners and staff of these lake resorts were two of the first donors to provide the initial funds we needed to secure our first matching National Recreational Trail Grants. And, over the years, both resorts have furnished over-the-top support in assisting us in completing this vision of a forty-five mile-long Mountain Biking & Hiking trail along the southern shore of beautiful Lake Ouachita. The Mountain Harbor …Click to read the full article