Hit the Trails
Aug 29, 2014 02:40PM ● By Lesley Miller
Next month, a ribbon-cutting ceremony will officially open Phase 1 of the new Johnny Cash Trail and bike-pedestrian overcrossing. With these new additions, the city’s recreational trail network encompasses a total of 40 miles!
Phase I connects to the popular Folsom Lake Crossing Trail by way of the new overcrossing that soars over four lanes of traffic. The bridge’s design and architecture mimics that of Folsom Prison, and the overcrossing connects to the new 1.5-mile trail segment on the opposite side—keeping cyclists and pedestrians safe from busy Natoma Street. This section of trail is unique since it’s contained on Folsom State Prison property, so it seemed only natural that it be named in honor of the “man in black.”
The entire Johnny Cash Trail will be completed in spring of 2016, when the remaining 1.5 miles of Phase II, which will begin at Cimmaron Circle and include an undercrossing at Prison Road, are finished. Funding for this $3 million phase is secured through multiple federal and state grants and $350,000 in required matching City funds. The trail will continue behind the City Hall complex and send travelers over a 190-foot-long wood bridge that’ll provide unprecedented views of the Zoo Sanctuary’s bear exhibit and Lake Natoma. The trail will also include installments of public art themed around and honoring the life and legacy of Johnny Cash. To this end, a panel that included Cindy Cash, members of the Folsom Arts and Cultural Commission and Folsom Parks and Recreation Commission, City staff and representatives from Folsom State Prison administration and the Folsom Tourism Bureau, selected two artists.
Other trail projects have made great progress this year, too. The Dos Coyotes Trail segment was completed at the end of the summer, making the final link of the Humbug-Willow Creek Trail and connecting to the state-owned Lake Natoma Trail; and the Hinkle Creek Bridge—an 80-foot-long wood and metal bridge built entirely by a dedicated group of volunteers—was completed this past spring, providing ADA accessibility to the existing nature trail.
For a trail map and more information, visit folsom.ca.us.
Phase I connects to the popular Folsom Lake Crossing Trail by way of the new overcrossing that soars over four lanes of traffic. The bridge’s design and architecture mimics that of Folsom Prison, and the overcrossing connects to the new 1.5-mile trail segment on the opposite side—keeping cyclists and pedestrians safe from busy Natoma Street. This section of trail is unique since it’s contained on Folsom State Prison property, so it seemed only natural that it be named in honor of the “man in black.”
The entire Johnny Cash Trail will be completed in spring of 2016, when the remaining 1.5 miles of Phase II, which will begin at Cimmaron Circle and include an undercrossing at Prison Road, are finished. Funding for this $3 million phase is secured through multiple federal and state grants and $350,000 in required matching City funds. The trail will continue behind the City Hall complex and send travelers over a 190-foot-long wood bridge that’ll provide unprecedented views of the Zoo Sanctuary’s bear exhibit and Lake Natoma. The trail will also include installments of public art themed around and honoring the life and legacy of Johnny Cash. To this end, a panel that included Cindy Cash, members of the Folsom Arts and Cultural Commission and Folsom Parks and Recreation Commission, City staff and representatives from Folsom State Prison administration and the Folsom Tourism Bureau, selected two artists.
Other trail projects have made great progress this year, too. The Dos Coyotes Trail segment was completed at the end of the summer, making the final link of the Humbug-Willow Creek Trail and connecting to the state-owned Lake Natoma Trail; and the Hinkle Creek Bridge—an 80-foot-long wood and metal bridge built entirely by a dedicated group of volunteers—was completed this past spring, providing ADA accessibility to the existing nature trail.
For a trail map and more information, visit folsom.ca.us.