Trail park opens in Grovetown
Drew Miller, 3, (from left) Anna Morris, 2, Carter Nay, 2, and Chad Nay, 4, look at a creek from a bridge on the path at Grovetown Trails at Euchee Creek.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Granite boulders and rock outcroppings along the Grovetown Trails at Euchee Creek are evidence of the now-defunct quarry, which left behind a serene lake for fishing and picnicking.
Chad Nay, 4, skipped along the two miles of multipurpose trails with friends and family, noting wildlife and especially frogs that might be breeding in a creek that runs across the trail.
"My mom brings us here for picnics all the time," he said.
Grovetown and county leaders met Wednesday to officially open the trails with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the $624,000 project, which has taken nearly four years to plan and complete.
"It is like a nature trail," Grovetown Mayor Dennis Trudeau said at the ceremony. "When you are tied up with business, we want you to come out here and walk and get with the birds and fresh air to enjoy and relax."
Local businessman Tim Shelnut donated the 44.7 acres of land bordering Euchee Creek at Harlem-Grovetown Road and extending up to Wrightsboro Road, including the area behind Grovetown Middle School.
The trails were completed in two phases with federal and state Department of Transportation funds, state Department of Natural Resources money and money from city coffers. Construction began in early December 2002.
The trails, which made use of commercially unusable wetlands, includes the two miles of trails, a rock den, parking area, a 100-feet deep stocked pond, 300-foot bridge, rock outcroppings, picnic areas and an overlook.
A main purpose of the project is so classes from Grovetown Middle could study biology, geology and other earth and natural sciences as well as experience the sciences firsthand at one of the two outdoor classrooms.
"Kids have already been here from the middle school, and they are liking it," Trudeau said.
Grovetown City Councilman Bruce Stoddard said that restrooms still need to be built, which he hopes will come from 1-cent sales tax money. As soon as a subdivision between the trails and the middle school is complete, a trail will extend to connect them through the neighborhood.