Horses to Gain Limited Access at Heritage
Representatives from SORBA Athens met with the equestrian group at Heritage Park last week to determine the best way to add a horse loop to the existing loop. It was determined that a core loop composed primarily of the old roadbed doubletrack could in fact be opened to horse traffic without much disruption to bike traffic, and that new MTB singletrack would be built to ensure that mountain bikes are kept primarily off the new horse loop.
The decision was based primarily on an attempt to prevent the potential for a tangled mess of trails and in order to facilitate a short timeline for opening the park to horse access. The plan is still pending approval from the Oconee County BOC, but both user groups feel it the best way to proceed.
Certain short sections of trail, such as the river frontage, will be shared-use, but for the most part bikes and horses will be kept on separate trails. We will strongly encourage the county to install a good signage system keep everyone clear on what they can and can’t do.
As we will be building quite a bit of new singletrack in order to facilitate the integration, volunteers will be much needed in the coming months.
For more information on the subject, contact chapter President Dave Conway at sorba.athens@sorba.org, and be sure to come to the chapter meeting on April 14.
Tagged: mountain biking, oconee heritage park, equestrians, horses, trails, access
