Happy trails to you at the lake

A committee also wantsto build other trailsaround the lake.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CRAIG BEACH -- Pedestrians no longer have to brave the narrow roads near Lake Milton to get some exercise and enjoy a view of the lake.
Instead, they can go for a walk, run or bike ride on the new 1.5-mile Lake Milton Nature Trail and Fitness Path in Lake Milton State Park.
"We have very few sidewalks in this area. Walking around the road is dangerous," said Brian Mitchell, a Craig Beach resident. Mitchell is chairman of the Lake Milton Association's path committee, which organized the construction of the trail.
Cars often speed down the narrow roads in the area.
"I love to walk, but there's no good place to do it," Mitchell said. "Now we have it."
Trail location
The $100,000 trail, which is lined with crushed stone and is between 6 and 10 feet wide, loops between the small inlet on the northwest side of the lake and the overflow parking lot for the beach off of Grandview Road. Sections of the trail pass through woods and the picnic area at the beach.
A dedication ceremony for the trail will be held at 11 a.m. Friday near the beach.
Barbara Neill, manager of Lake Milton State Park, said the trail should be paved with asphalt by the end of the month. It will be open to all pedestrians, including walkers, runners, bicyclists and in-line skakers.
The trail will be closed to motorized vehicles.
Path committee member Ginny Wolf said some pedestrians have been using the path even though it is not yet paved.
"Every time people are working on the walking path, people are using it," she said.
More to come
Mitchell noted that the construction of the trail is the first phase of a plan to build a total of 10 miles of paths around the lake during the next 10 years. The trail committee has applied for a $108,000 federal grant to fund the next phase of the plan, which calls for the construction of a path along the Mahoning Avenue causeway over Lake Milton next year.
The new trail in the state park was built using donations and a $47,000 federal recreational trail grant and a $24,000 grant from the Mahoning Valley Green Team.
Safety issue
Neill said planning for the construction of the trail began about eight years ago, after some area residents expressed concern about the safety of walking along the narrow streets near the lake. Statistics compiled by the trail committee show that three people have been hit by cars while walking on Grandview Road during the pastfive years.
The Lake Milton Association set up a committee of area residents to organize the trail's construction. The association is a not-for-profit organization that works to improve the state park and the surrounding area.
"We're a small community, and we've worked so hard to get something nice people can use," Wolf said. "It's so exciting."
hill@vindy.com