Kansas City Parks and Recreation, in partnership with Earth Riders Trails Association (ERTA), will host the grand opening of a planned 16-mile primitive, recreational trail system within Swope Park. The formal dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled at 10:00am Saturday, November 15 followed immediately by the official opening of the trail. The celebration is free and open to anyone who wishes to attend.
The first phase of trail, designed and built entirely by volunteer labor, is in the historic Camp Lake of the Woods section of Swope Park. The 1.35 mile trail features many rock outcroppings, spectacular views of the surrounding parkland and two small waterfall sections. Marci Jones, South Regional Director of KCMO Parks and Recreations, says, “We are so excited to have ERTA in association with Heartland Sports Promotions building such world class hiking and biking trails. The trails will be a real treasure.”
The Swope Park Trail system is managed by Scott Capstack and Craig Stoeltzing, co-owners of Heartland Sports Promotions and ERTA Board of Advisor members, who bring over 22 years of trail design and construction experience to the project. Since January, 40 volunteers have invested over 600 hours designing and constructing Phase one. Phase two will commence in December, with 3-4 miles of additional trail scheduled for completion over the next six months.
Learn more about the new trail system at swopetrails.com, including a trail map.
Additional coverage from MoBikeFed and KCBike.info.
Video from the Swope Park Trail grand opening, from KMBC.