What Are the Benefits of This Trail?
How Will The Project Be Funded?
How Can I Support FLATS?
How Will My Support Help the Forest Lake Area Trail System?
Why Start in The Park?
Why Use Concrete for Phase 1?
How Will the Trail Be Maintained?
How Do Trails Affect Residents?
How Will This Trail Affect The Park?
What Will Be The Route Between Kirksville and Thousand Hills State Park?
What If I Have Ideas, Other Concerns, or Suggestions?
What Are the Benefits of This Trail?
- A trail will link Kirksville even more closely to Thousand Hills State Park, a key recreational resource for the whole state.
- This trail would build on:
- Kirksville’s strength as a hunting, fishing, camping, and outdoor destination.
- Kirksville’s vibrant Parks and Recreation programs.
- Health and wellness-oriented programs at Truman State University, Moberly Area Community College, the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, and the Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health.
- Trails are free for users and serve more residents than nearly any other recreational facility. Families, students, visitors, and retirees all regularly enjoy trails.
- This trail would make Thousand Hills State Park accessible for the 10.5% of Kirksville and 8.7% of Adair households without a car (U.S. Census Bureau).
- Trails like this offer a high return on investment relative to other projects, especially when similar facilities don’t exist.
- Trails promote health and wellness, reduce health care costs, raise property values, promote tourism, and improve quality of life, making communities more attractive for businesses and enjoyable for residents.
Click here for further information on the economic benefits of trails, here and here for more info on the health benefits of trails, and here for further information on property values.
How Will The Project Be Funded?
FLATS is seeking funds from individuals, businesses, foundations, state agencies, federal agencies, and grants. We are not seeking funds from local taxes.
FLATS has been awarded a $100,000 Recreational Trails Program grant for Phase 1 of the trail. Please support Phase 1 and the development of future phases by making a tax-deductible donation to the project today.
The Recreational Trails Program is funded by the Federal Highway Administration. Fifty-seven percent of the cost of Phase 1 will be paid for by the $100,000 Recreational Trails Program grant. The remaining costs will be covered by cash and in-kind donations.
How Can I Support FLATS?
You can support FLATS now by signing up for a free membership or by making a tax-deductible donation. Membership will always be free, but we need individual donations to secure grants and other funding. Your donation, no matter how small, will help make this trail a reality.
If you can’t donate now, please sign up for a free membership. All members will receive a free FLATS sticker for their bike or car and be recognized on our website!
You can also help FLATS by attending FLATS events and fundraisers, volunteering your expertise for a fundraiser or trail planning, making an in-kind donation of labor, supplies, or equipment, or inviting a representative of FLATS to speak to your organization. Please use our contact form if you can help us in these or any other ways.
How Will My Support Help the Forest Lake Area Trail System?
Grassroots support is the best way to let people know that we want this trail to be built. Non-profits, foundations, government officials, and many others will make this trail a priority when citizens make their support clear.
Why Start in The Park?
Currently park users have to walk or bike on two-lane roads without shoulders to get from the campgrounds to the central attractions of the park. Phase 1 will connect these attractions, provide safe and direct access to the center of the park, and bring us closer to the ultimate goal of directly connecting Kirksville and Thousand Hills State Park.
Why Use Concrete for Phase 1?
Concrete has much lower maintenance costs than asphalt or gravel, a 20+ year life span, and is the best surface long term for ADA accessibility. Click here for a comparison of gravel, asphalt and concrete trail surfaces.
How Will The Trail Be Maintained?
The Recreational Trails Program Grant that is helping to fund Phase 1 was awarded in part based on FLATS’ plans for trail maintenance.
The grant included a concrete surface for its longevity and for its low maintenance cost compared to asphalt and gravel, it is funding the purchase of 60″ rotary sweeper to clear the trail, and it included commitments for over 5000 total yearly hours of cleaning and clearing the trail from student organizations at A.T. Still University and from the Missouri National Guard–1438th Engineering Company.
Thousand Hills State Park will oversee and manage the finished trail on park property, and trail maintenance is a key element of FLATS’ long-term mission.
How Do Trails Affect Residents?
FLATS is pursuing this project because of the positive impact well-designed trails have had in other communities.
Before a trail is built residents often express concern about property values, safety, and liability. Once trails are built residents report that trails have clear positive effects on their neighbors, friends, and families. Trails users can make neighborhoods safer, serving as an informal neighborhood patrol, and trails both raise property values and decrease selling time for houses.
All fifty states have Recreational Use Statutes to protect landowners from liability issues. Without these laws projects like this would not be possible.
Trails succeed when citizens who will be affected in any way offer input throughout the process. The majority of this project is still in the planning stages and FLATS is actively seeking the guidance and insight of community members as we work on this project.
Click here for more info (from Columbia, Missouri) on property values, safety, and liability and click here to learn more about safety on trails.
Please contact us at any time with your concerns and ideas.
How Will This Trail Affect The Park?
The entire trail will cover less than .2% of the park and less than .14% of the park including the adjoining Big Creek Conservation Area. This leaves the vast majority of the park for park users who enjoy the undeveloped areas of the park while creating much greater access for all residents and visitors.
What Will Be The Route Between Kirksville and Thousand Hills State Park?
This is a long-term project and to determine the best route for everyone in the community FLATS and other groups will need to develop plans with the active support of residents who live near the most promising routes.
The economic, health, and recreation benefits of trails are greatest when they provide direct routes to central locations and have highly visible trailheads. This project makes sense because Kirksville and Thousand Hills State Park are so close to each other.
Ideally, the Forest Lake Area Trail System will offer multiple connections between Kirksville and Thousand Hills State Park. The Kirksville-Adair Community Strategic Plan recommends a route on Michigan Trail, but there are multiple promising routes.
What If I Have Ideas, Other Concerns, or Suggestions?
To build a trail that serves the needs of northeast Missouri we need your input. We are continuously updating plans for this project as we talk to more citizens of Adair County. We need to hear from you.
You can use the contact form on this site, or write us at:
Forest Lake Area Trail System
P.O. Box 933
Kirksville, MO 63501
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