Hiking and biking trail support groups from the northeast Texas cities of De Kalb and New Boston, in Bowie County, and Avery, in Red River County, announced Friday that they have banded together to add approximately 25 continuous miles to the Red River Valley Recreational Trail, proposed to be the nation’s second longest Rails to Trails Conversion in the country, with support and offers of help from various local civic and non-profit groups.

The Red River Valley Recreational Trail coalition is the group of counties, cities, towns, and various trail groups stretching from Farmersville to Paris to Texarkana, running along a “rail-banked” railroad corridor for most its length.

Railbanking (as defined by the National Trails System Act, 16 USC 1247 (d)) is a voluntary agreement between a railroad company and a trail agency to use an out-of-service rail corridor as a trail until some railroad might need the corridor again for rail service – usually in the case of a national emergency.

The unused “rail-banked” railroad right-of-way in Bowie County from New Boston that runs alongside U.S. Highway 82 through the city of De Kalb to the Red River County town of Avery is held by Bowie County and the City of Avery under the National Trails System Act of 1983 under the supervision and authority of the federal Surface Transportation Board; the only exception being that portion inside the City of New Boston which purchased its portion of the trail directly from the railroad. Rail-trails—trails converted from unused railroad lines—span the country, connecting the nation in the same way the railroads once did. With more than 15,000 miles of rail-trail in America creating pathway links in metropolitan areas, small towns and everywhere in between, people turn to the trails for innumerable means of exercise and recreation (consisting almost exclusively of hiking, bicycling, and horseback riding), and even for commuting to work. Many rail-trails are paved or evenly surfaced, with gentle curves and sloping rail-grade inclines of 3 percent or less. Popular commuting trails in urban and suburban areas like the Burke-Gilman Trail in Seattle or the Capital Crescent in Washington, D.C., see upwards of 2,000 users in a day. For safety and security, and to maximize trail usership, all gasoline or diesel powered vehicles of every type are prohibited from the trail right-of-way except for law enforcement, emergency, or trail service or maintenance equipment by the Texas Transportation Code (§ 545.422).

Ted Prather, President of the De Kalb Industrial Foundation, says that it has become tougher and tougher trying to recruit new or expanding businesses to western Bowie County, and that “the largest single thing most people mention as the spoiler has been the loss of the railroad. Developing this trail is a way to take our biggest liability and turn it into what could be our biggest financial asset”. Prather goes on to say, “We’ve formed a non-profit group here calling itself the Friends of the De Kalb Trace to help raise money and apply it to the development of the portion of the trail in our area of responsibility. We’re beginning a membership drive this month to start things off. The commissioners that cover our area of the trail (Kelly Blackburn and Carl Teel) have voiced their support for our efforts and their hopes that our efforts will pay some great financial dividends for our local businesses, and we sure thank them for that support.”

According to the records of the Surface Transportation Board in Washington, D.C., Bowie County is the designated trail manager charged with the responsibility of developing and maintaining the unused rail-trail for public recreational trail purposes. “But there just has never been funds available in the county coffers to do that”, says Kelly Blackburn, Bowie County’s Precinct 3 Commissioner. “I’ve got miles and miles of rural roads that I have to make sure stay passable and usable and that’s where I and the other Commissioners have been paying the most attention. And that’s not to mention the fact that the four-laning of Highway 82 from I-30 to De Kalb has been very high on all the Commissioner’s minds because that, too, would be a very important economic development benefit for us out here on the west end of the county. I am very confident that the development of this trail will bring in the financial benefits for our local businesses and taxpayers that have been seen in other places in Texas and across the country, and I hate that we’ve not been able to do anything with this old rail-bed like this before now. There’s absolutely no reason why what has worked for other communities in other places can’t work for us here; and I’ve had resident after resident say to me how they are ready to see this thing happen; so yeah, I’m very glad to see that we have two active citizens groups here in the west end of the county that are willing to work and take up the slack and make this thing become a reality. I would really love to see this whole thing from Farmersville all the way up to here one day turned into a state or national recreational park. That would really be a major tourism draw for this part of the state. Those hiking and biking and horse folks spend a lot of money when they travel; and, we just need to give them something they’ll come to, enjoy, tell all their friends and neighbors about, and be glad to come back to over and over. Right now, with these groups promising to do most of the clean-up, and maintenance, and shrub planting, and picnic table building and all that, I’m going to give them all the support I can so that the stretch of the trail in our area will lead the way towards that end”.

Deborah Cook, Executive Director of New Boston’s Chamber of Commerce and Office of Parks & Tourism, says, “We have worked hard on our part of the trail that is inside the City of New Boston but we really didn’t know how to go outside of that to the east or the west. We are so glad to join the coalition and to join with the De Kalb group to develop the local part of this trail outside of New Boston through western Bowie County to Malta. Our group will turn over responsibility for the trail to the De Kalb group there at Malta, who’ll take it on to the county line. Once we have these three portions joined for the 25 mile length and spruced up, we expect to have a huge boost in tourism dollars for our local businesses from out-of-area recreational users.”

“We’ve looked at other trails like this in Texas and across the southeast”, said Judd Johns, De Kalb’s Chamber of Commerce President, “and we’ve seen the economic benefits on the local economy that multiply any initial investment many times over. Not only do the users of these longer trails spend money with your local people selling gasoline, snacks, food, horse feed and hay, but there are new businesses that spring up along these routes like bed-and-breakfast inns, restaurants, bicycle shops, bicycle storage businesses, horse and bike rentals, and campgrounds. For all the financial good that these trails bring to the communities that have them, we can’t keep waiting for it to be done for us.” “With 25 miles of a continuous trail without any gaps, we’re excited about having horse endurance races, running and bicycling distance races, maybe even a marathon on the trail to help raise money for continued development along the trail. We have really been encouraged by all the positive comments and offers of help from horse riders and horse enthusiasts in our area”, Johns added.

According to information released by the Rails To Trails Conservancy (a national hiking and biking trail advocacy group that is a strong supporter of rail-trail conversions), in 1969, 50 percent of American children walked to school, but by 2004 that number had dropped to 14 percent. Several problems have accompanied this decrease. Parents dropping their kids off at school account for 20 to 30 percent of all morning rush hour traffic. Further, 50 percent of all American children under age of 19 were overweight or obese in 2003, compared to 15 percent in the early 1970s. Walking or biking to and from school is an easy way for children to build activity into their lives and meet the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendation of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least five days a week.

After seeing photos of a first-class rail-to-trail conversion in the southeast that has been in existence since 1995 after which the three community groups want to model their efforts, De Kalb High School Principal and avid bicycler Richard Coleman exclaimed, “That is just too cool.  That would be a great addition to our community.” Now called into service to help develop the De Kalb Trace portion of the trail, Mr. Coleman reports that, “we have enlisted our Ag Science Department to go along our (De Kalb’s) portion of the trail and identify and mark trees and other plants; that way our Ag Science students and Biology and Science classes can use the trail for walking field trips studying plants and leaves and wildlife.” Coleman continued, “giving our kids a healthier and safer alternative to being a car or bus rider by encouraging them to walk or ride their bicycles to school would be a great benefit of this trail that runs right through the center of De Kalb; not to mention the environmental benefits of fewer cars for us to manage dropping off and picking up kids every day. We’re looking into other programs to help us upgrade our sidewalk system in town to help direct kids onto the trail to get them to and from our campuses that adjoin the trail right-of-way”.

“Development of the trail in our area has been hindered up to now by the planned four-laning of Highway 82 between De Kalb and New Boston that was begun about the same time that the railroad right-of-way went into the rail-banking system”, says De Kalb City Council Member, Dennis Wandrey, “and this four-laning was originally planned by TXDoT (the Texas Department of Transportation) to include some relocation and upgrading of the trail. However, with spiraling costs of the proposed highway development, the plans have been rethought, and it appears now that the rail bed will pretty much remain in-place and intact for quite a while. We are encouraging the go-ahead in developing the trail as an economic development venture for our city and all of western Bowie County; we’re just keeping in mind that, if the 4-laning ever does occur, part of the trail right-of-way will have to be incorporated into the highway improvements. It’s just that we’ve reached the point where there’s no need to wait on the widening of the highway any longer. The trail in our area is in remarkably good shape, with only the need for a little gravel here or a small culvert there; we have a diamond in the rough, and it’s time to polish this thing up and start reaping the benefits of this asset like other communities have gotten from their rail-trail conversion projects.”

Local residents are getting excited and gearing up to apply the elbow grease, raising funds and anything else that will help make the trail a reality. Among them are Sam Reeves, a 29-year teaching veteran, resident of De Kalb, and De Kalb ISD classroom instructor teaching dual credit History and English to the upper high school grades says, “I think that this trail and its addition to the Red River Valley Trail system is a fantastic idea and will be of great benefit to the city of De Kalb and western Bowie County. I will most certainly do all that I can to support its implementation.”

Local business owner Buddy Nowell, owner of Buddy’s Tire & Feed in De Kalb and also an avid horse rider and trainer, voiced his hope that the trail would encourage people to get more exercise and take a more healthy approach to their daily activities. “Kids, especially, spend way too much time in front of a TV set or video game these days. This trail will give the kids, and adults too, a good, safe place to get out and see more of the outdoors and get some fresh air. I’m excited about the trail the way it’s been explained to me. They tell me that the stretch through here that we’ll be a part of will be about 25 miles long. That’s definitely long enough for people looking for a supervised and protected place to ride their horses or bicycles. People aren’t going to travel very far if they don’t think they’ve really got something when they get there. You’d be surprised how far people will go, though, when they know they can do an all-day trail ride. I think it will give a lot of help to several businesses here in De Kalb – I’m right next to the trail and I really believe it’ll increase my business catering to the horse folks that come to town. I guess I’ll have to remember how to fix some bicycle tires, too. I used to fix up my own and some friends’ bikes growing up, so I’m sure I can do some bike repairs if I need to”, Nowell chuckled.

When contacted, Texarkana Bicycle shop owner Terry Berridge said that “it was great news” when he heard that some real trail development in west Bowie County would finally begin. “The bicycling community got very excited about eight or nine years ago when this rail-to-trail conversion was first mentioned, but then nothing happened. We’ve badly needed this trail for a long, long time. It’s going to be well used not only by the serious cyclist, but you’ll see casual cyclers made up of moms and dads and their kids on the trail. In Texarkana, we’ve averaged approximately one cycling death caused by contact with automobiles per year. That is way too high compared to other metropolitan areas in the State of Texas. My customers look desperately for places to ride where they are safely separated from highway traffic; there just aren’t any places like that of much length anywhere close by. Trust me on this one, when they get this thing off the ground and official, there will be riders from Texarkana on it every weekend. Twenty five continuous miles of a protected trail is a very attractive ride for cyclists,” said Berridge.

After seeing the trail for the first time a few days ago from I-30 to Avery, avid cyclists and Texarkana Bicycle Club members Mel Brothers and David Stone said that they were “very excited about a new location for off-road riding.” “It won't be as challenging as our trails at Bringle Lake (in Texarkana), but this trail gives us the distance we long for and will be so much safer than road riding; AND IT’S SO CLOSE!! Any style of bicycle, except a true road bike, will be usable on this trail system just like it is now. From what we saw at different stops along Highway 82 from Malta to De Kalb and then on to Avery, the rail-trail bed is in really good condition to start riding now. We would love to see others coming out and enjoying the trail and spreading the word with us. We’re certainly going to give them all of our support and look for ways to aid in their efforts to continue upgrading the trail”, Brothers said.

“For so long, I thought I was the lone voice crying in the wilderness” says Avery Mayor Bill Trimm, “I was so glad to get the call from the De Kalb group asking us to join the coalition and to start working on the trail from our town center out east to the county line. Money is so tight for our small town, but we’re certainly more than glad to add our sweat equity to this project. That old rail line is really in great shape; all it needed was some brush clearing and a little clean up, and we jumped right on that right after we got the call! Now all we need to do is start putting up the necessary signs and take care of it, and we’ll have that portion out to the county line looking as good as it does here in the center of town. We are really glad we were invited to join the trail coalition, and we’ll be at every meeting from now on. I’ve said for a long time that we’ll shock ourselves in this little town at what this trail can do for us financially, if we could ever get it off the ground and have more than just a mile or two open for business.”

“We have Texas State Senator Kevin Eltife to thank for putting us together and giving us a much needed boost of encouragement”, says Earl Erickson, the Steering Committee Chairman of the Friends of the Trail de Paris, whose group supports the current operation and further development of the City of Paris and Lamar County portions of the Red River Valley Recreational Trail. Erickson is the ad hoc Administrative Director of the Red River Valley Recreational Trail coalition, having been selected by members of the coalition to lead them because of his extensive experience in trail building during his tenure as the City of Pasadena, Texas’ Parks and Recreation Director and the construction of the Trail de Paris and its extensions on the Greater Paris Development Foundation’s rail-banked section. Erickson continues, “We know that public funds are extremely hard to come by right now, but we’re hopeful that one day we can turn this trail system of local communities and their support groups into one unified state or federal linear park, not only for the health and environmental benefits for the local citizenry, but also as a tremendous economic benefit to the northeast Texas area, especially for the more rural communities along the route. For example, the State of Texas says that the Mineral Wells-Weatherford trail attracts approximately 300,000 visitors a year who add $2 Million a year in added revenues to the local area economy. There is no doubt that our trail system, once it is more fully developed, can regularly draw hikers, bicyclers, and horse enthusiasts from metro areas as far away as the Dallas/Ft. Worth metro area, as well as Oklahoma City, Little Rock, and Shreveport. This 25 mile stretch from Avery to New Boston through De Kalb will be a drawing card in its own right, and will be the base from which we can close the gaps between Paris to Clarksville and from Clarksville to Avery.”

About the grass-roots efforts State Senator Kevin Eltife said, "These local groups working together demonstrates the positive results that can be achieved when we think and act as a region, and I highly commend them for their efforts on this endeavor.” 

New Boston’s Deb Cook says, “Another thing is that we’ve been limited by the fact that the railroad is still operating on the east side of New Boston on to Texarkana, so we’re glad to join with our other trail coalition members to get ideas of how and where to develop the missing link between us and Texarkana. We’re planning talks now with the Texarkana trail group to start next month developing plans of bridging that gap here in Bowie County. Those talks may involve someone from the City of Redwater; we just don’t know, yet. The reason that De Kalb has a larger portion of the trail for responsibility right now than New Boston, is because we will be expected, at some time in the future, to commit resources on the east side to connect to groups to the east, whoever that might be.” “What we’re all trying to accomplish with this coalition and the united efforts of the various local entities and groups”, continued Cook, “is to show our elected officials that we want this trail, and that we’re willing to not only voice our opinions and make our requests known, but that we’re also willing to work and show the effort to match our words; hopefully then, maybe some public monies can turn loose and we’ll be able to turn this over to a state or federal agency like the National Park Service or the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.”

Texarkana’s citizen trail group, the Partnership for the Pathway, has already developed some trail mileage on both the Arkansas side as well as the Texas side. John and Julie-Ray Harrison, Partnership Board members, explain, “We’ve worked hard over the past several years to develop what we have, and we have learned quite a bit about the process along the way. Because we’ve gained some valuable experience, we’ve offered our help to our sister organizations to the west in developing this newest trail section covering New Boston, De Kalb and Avery. Having this continuous 25 mile section developed and in use will help Texarkana by drawing visitors to our area, which will help all of Bowie County, and especially the local economies involved. We’ve been pretty limited in Texarkana in that we haven’t figured out how to get from Texarkana to New Boston because the railroad still uses the rail right-of-way between us. We really can’t expect to locate a trail right next to the railroad, especially when so much of the railroad runs through such a heavily trafficked industrial area. We’re excited, as well, at beginning talks next month with representatives from New Boston for identifying possible alternate routes which will link our two cities. That would be a magnificent accomplishment to have the trail system we’ve started here in Texarkana join in a single unified trail that covers all of Bowie County from east to west, and then tying Bowie County into the overall Red River Valley Recreational Trail system. Can you imagine … getting on the trail in Texarkana and going almost all the way to Dallas on foot, on a bicycle, or on horseback? Think of the countryside you’ll see – think of the people you’ll meet and the experiences you’ll have. Higher fuel prices are likely to force a more healthy and active lifestyle upon all of us. This trail system will be a major draw to our area for those people who seek places to enjoy that active lifestyle.”

END.

Photos attached.

Brochure attached.

Rules of the Trail:

No petroleum-propelled vehicles are permitted on the trail except emergency, maintenance, and patrol vehicles authorized by the trail agencies/organizations.

Vandalism of any building, structure, plants, signs, or property of the trail is prohibited.

No person shall litter or dispose of litter except in waste containers provided by the trail agencies/organizations. Take off the trail what you brought onto the trail.

Horseback riding is permitted. Where there is a separate trail for horses, horseback riding should be only on the equestrian trail and shall cross the paved trail only at designated places.

All users of the trail shall yield to all horse traffic at equestrian crossings and otherwise.

All posted signs shall be obeyed.

Firearms of any kind are prohibited on the trail except for authorized personnel, law enforcement officers, or by permit.

Hunting is prohibited on or from the trail.

Shooting a firearm on, over, across, or down the trail is prohibited.

Explosives or fireworks are prohibited on the trail.

Disorderly conduct is prohibited including, but not limited to: abusive language, intoxication, disturbance of other persons using the trail, or breach of peace.

Possession or use of alcoholic beverages on the trail is prohibited.

Any and all advertising, exhibitions, solicitation, and contributions are prohibited except by special permit authorized and issued by the responsible agencies/organizatoins.

Entrance to the trail is authorized only at public roads and other designated points of entrance.

No glass containers permitted on the trail.

No dogs shall be allowed on the trail or other property of the trail right-of-way unless on a leash and accompanied by the owner of said dog or dogs.

Any violations of these rules and regulations shall be punishable as provided by state law.

Electric golfcarts are permitted, but only for the reason of being handicapped or otherwise. A permit for use of electric golfcart may be required.

Parking facilities are provided at some public entrances to the trail. Parking should be as designated by posted signs.

Special Rules and Regulations for Equestrian Use of the Trail

All horses must have proof of a negative Coggins Test in possession of the rider of the horse while on the trail.

Kicking horses or stallions should have a ribbon (red) tied in their tail.

Horses should be tied in a manner that will not allow damage to trees or other vegetation.

Horses must remain under control at all times.

Horses should not be ridden on muddy trail if doing so would result in trail rutting.

Moving, removing, or re-arranging any signs or trail marker is prohibited.

Do not leave the trail and enter private property without consent of property owner.

Special Rules and Regulations for Use of Battery Powered Golf Carts on the Trail

Cart must be open and battery powered only.

Cart operators must possess a valid state driver’s license and must be accompanied by or be 25 years of age or older, except for physically and visibly handicapped individuals who must only demonstrate his/her ability to safely operate the cart.

Cart operators and passengers shall comply with all rules and regulations of the trail.

The cart will be operated in a mature and safe manner at all times and in compliance with any and all posted regulations and at a speed not to exceed 15 miles per hour.

The cart will be operated with full respect of other users and will operate at all times on the right side of the trail, except when passing, and shall not pass other users who are being assisted by a mechanical device unless invited to do so.

The cart shall yield the right of way to all other users of the trail who are assisted by mechanical devices ( i.e. bikes, roller blades, wheelchairs, maintenance vehicles, etc.) approaching from either the front or rear, by pulling to the right, off the asphalt or designated trail surface where reasonable possible, and at least 150 feet in advance, and coming to a complete stop.

Permits may be required before Battery Powered carts may be operated on the trail.

Trail Etiquette

“Just Be courteous”

Keep to the right, pass to the left

Give an audible signal when passing.

Keep pets on short leash and pet waste off trail.

If you carry it in, carry it out.

If you see litter, please pick it up.

Electric carts must pull over and stop for all oncoming or passing traffic.