It’s 2004 and unless you have been living under a rock, you are aware that there will soon be a new trail system within an hour drive of downtown. Stephen F Austin State Park has been kind enough to allow the building of a multi-use trail system that will amount to about 8 miles of trail open to mountain bikes. 

   SFASP is a very nice park. It is a bit off the beaten path so not many seem to know of its existence.  In the morning hours it is not unusual to see ten to fifteen deer wondering in the open areas of the park. There are many different species of birds that call the park home. A large vulture population resides in the trees along the banks of the river during the fall and winter. Some large piliated woodpeckers have been spotted as well as barred owls and red-shouldered hawks. 

   Thanks to the efforts of Bill Miller the park has agreed to the installation of these trails. He was unable to see the project through because of work related issues. GHORBA has since stepped in to continue where Bill had to leave off. Kelly, the trail czar, was quick to develop a working relationship with the parks directors. Through the efforts of Kelly several donations of building material were made and found there way into the park.

   It did not take long for the local trail builder’s guild to get wind of the opportunity. Within days a small contingent of builders were wondering through the park with pin flags in hand. The first order of business was to complete an improved surface trail from the park offices to the campground. The ADA trail (as it is now called) is intended to give walkers a safe path to move between the park entrance and the campgrounds. The trail was laid out by Bill, and needs only to have bridges built to cross several drainage ditches as well as spreading concrete washout on the surface. Many of the bridge stringers are in place waiting for decking material to be added. About one third of the trail surface has been covered with surface improvement material. The completion of this awaits the donation of decking material to finish the bridges. It has been proposed that an “adopt a bridge” program be put in place to help finish this portion of the project. The details of this program have not been ironed out but if anyone has interest they should contact Kelly through the GHORBA website or at a meeting.

   The next phase of the project is to install a loop trail around the entire campground area. An official work party was called and the trail was marked. This section has been very fast to build due to the fact that it uses mostly open field areas to circumnavigate the campground. While the trail was being marked, a group of builders followed behind clearing and cutting the newly marked trail. After a four-hour work party nearly half of the campground loop was complete. At the writing of this article the campground loop is about eighty-five percent complete and should yield around two miles of trail. With the exception of one bench cut that crosses a drainage ditch, this loop is a flat winding trail intended for use by walkers and small children riding their bikes. The trail offers few technical aspects but should be fast and fun to ride.

   The third phase of the project is to build the more technical trails along the banks of the river. Several miles of trail have been marked and cut. The main contingent of builders has been busy installing the many full bench cuts needed in order to descend and ascend the banks of the river. Several work parties have taken place with each work party putting in around four hours each. To date there are five bench cuts done with a few more to go. There are several more bridges that need to be installed to cross wet areas in the lower elevations. More miles off trail are to be marked and cut before the end of March. There will be official work parties nearly every weekend until then in order to complete this trail before the second annual fat tire festival takes place. SFASP will be host to the FTF this year.

   SFASP is on the list of pay dirt trails so come out and get your ten hours for the Texas State MTB Championship, it’s worth 60 points in the overall race. Thanks to all that have attended the work parties, you have all done a great job. Here is to a good year for the biking community both on and off road.

  Below are pictures and a click here for a pdf  map of the park.