Razorback Greenway and other NWA Trail Systems

[Mith242]

I ended up being busy today. Here I thought I was just going to be out and take just a few pics in between the rain. It actually cleared up for a while before the clouds came back with the threat of rain. I was taking pics over in the Mill District and decided to check out the trail system again while I was there. I'm pretty sure this is the Scull Creek Trail. Although something I read recently made me think maybe this could be a part of the Frisco Trail. Not sure if I was mistaken, the source I read it was mistaken, or possibly they are changing things as they expand the trail system. Anyway the first group of pics are of the Scull Creek Trail. It's not very long at the moment but it certainly makes you feel like your somewhere else in most spots with all the vegetation. One of the later shots is a split in the trail that heads uphill to the Fayetteville Public Library. Sometime I need to find a map of Fayetteville's trails system so I can post it on here. This trail basically runs from 6th St to Center St. There's talk of a Frisco Trail being worked on soon between Dickson and Meadow St just a little way north of this trail.

Later I will post some pics of my trip to the Mud Creek Trail. Told you I was busy today. It's in the northern part of the city. For those of you who are already losing interest because so far it's been nothing but vegetation, don't tune out yet. The Mud Creek Trail has vegetation yes, but it also goes by some areas of the city I haven't taken pics of yet. Areas like the the Mall and around North College Ave.

[Mith242]

Okay time for a little photo tour of the Mud Creek Trail. This is the first time I'd ever been on it. It basically runs from Old Missouri Rd to Steele Blvd. I'm not positive on all the geography but I think Clabbard Creek is a bit west of this area. They are talking about putting a trail over there. I wonder if they might try to eventually connect the two one day. Anyway let's start at the beginning of the trail (the way I started it at least). Also are some pics of Mud Creek. Doesn't look particularly muddy to me. Of course this is after we'd just gotten quite a bit of rain as well. Unilike the other trail this one seems much more open. A lot of time you only have trees on one side of you with it being open on the other. There are also houses going in near parts of the trail.

Here you can see a lot of open fields just south of Joyce. Although I imagine this will change in the near future as more developments go into the area. The bridge seems almost due south of the future Bellafont development that will be going in on the north side of Joyce.

You can see parts of the NWA Mall and other shopping areas near the mall from some areas of the trail. I should also point out that I zoomed to get the pics of the mall, you aren't that close to it just yet.

Here you use the Front St bridge to get over Mud Creek and continue westward. Front St lies just a little east of College Ave. You go under College Ave. Here College Ave is divided. In the last pic you can see a littl bit of traffic and some of the area just east of the mall.

More pics to come.

[Mith242]

After College Ave things turn a bit more green again. But eventually you start seeing the many chain restaurants that have been opening up south of the mall. Then you eventually use the Mall Ave bridge to go back over Mud Creek again.

[Mith242]

More restaurants as you pass under the Mall Ave bridge. Past Mall Ave you go by some other shopping area including a Wal-mart Supercenter. Although as you get closer to it you pass another vegetation area.

There are still open areas of the CMN Business Park area. Although they are slowly starting to fill up with developments. There was an actual little swampy area with some bald cypress. Not something you see up here in the Ozarks very much. Then you pass under the Steele Blvd bridge and reach the end.

I still have some more pics of a few areas I skipped over previous, since I had to some all the way back.

[Mith242]

Okay here's the trip back. The first pic is looking to the north. You can make out a little bit that's southwest of the mall. In the second pic you can just make out Target in the background. Then back to College Ave where traffic is already starting to back up. There's also a pic looking south of the College Ave area.

Back over to Front St. There's another small bridge over another small tributary of Mud Creek. Then back to some more homes.

I haven't figured out is this is supposed to be a seat or what. Looks interesting though. There were plenty of bushes and vines in bloom. Nice frangrant scents along much of the trail.

Well hopefully some of you got something out of my odd photo tour of some of the Fayetteville Trail System. At least you got to see some areas of Fayetteville I hadn't photographed before.

[johnnydr87]

The squirrel is the best part.

[Mith242]

The squirrel is the best part.

Yeah luckily I stuck with him a little bit and was able to get close enough to get a good pic.

[masons_dad1]

Fayetteville has a very nice trail system. Any idea how many miles is paved like that and are there benches setup along the entire trail? Where is parking for the trail? Also is there a map of the trail system? I like the footbridges the most and some areas in the pictures remind me of a boardwalk or a nature trail.

[Mith242]

Fayetteville has a very nice trail system. Any idea how many miles is paved like that and are there benches setup along the entire trail? Where is parking for the trail? Also is there a map of the trail system? I like the footbridges the most and some areas in the pictures remind me of a boardwalk or a nature trail.

I'm not sure how many miles are paved to be honest. The Mud Creek Trail is probably the longest in the city. Old Missouri Rd to just past Steele Blvd is a decent distance in the city. I'm still looking for a map of the trail system. When I've gone down to the city offices to talk about the American in Bloom pics they have a lot of different maps up all over the place. If I can't find anything on line I wonder if I could find a map there of the trail system and maybe take a pic of it. Overall there are quite a few benches set up. But you do have areas where there aren't too many. In the area around College Ave and Front St I don't think there's hardly any benches. Basically anytime you cross any roads there aren't many benches until you get further away from the roads.

[Mith242]

Here's a couple of nightshots I took last week of the Scull Creek Trail as I walked over to the Mill District to take some pics.

[thewizard16]

Good pictures. I really like the squirrel picture.

[Mith242]

Good pictures. I really like the squirrel picture.

Thanks, yeah that certainly seems to be a favorite.

[masons_dad1]

Here's a couple of nightshots I took last week of the Scull Creek Trail as I walked over to the Mill District to take some pics.

Trails at night give me the creeps, but that's just from watching so many horror flicks. Are the trails open 24/7 or do they close at 10pm like parks? It's nice to see a lot of lampposts along the trail, but I wonder how safe the trail system is at night. There was a sexual assault reported not long ago at the North Bentonville Trail and the community started complaining that lampposts were needed... even though the assault occurred during the middle of the day. I would guess that the trails don't get much use after dark even with the lighting. Which brings up another point. Does the city keep the lampposts lit all night even though the trail is closed? Seems like a waste of electricity if they do, but then how would police know if someone was using the trail when it's closed if there's no lighting. Hmmm.

[Mith242]

Trails at night give me the creeps, but that's just from watching so many horror flicks. Are the trails open 24/7 or do they close at 10pm like parks? It's nice to see a lot of lampposts along the trail, but I wonder how safe the trail system is at night. There was a sexual assault reported not long ago at the North Bentonville Trail and the community started complaining that lampposts were needed... even though the assault occurred during the middle of the day. I would guess that the trails don't get much use after dark even with the lighting. Which brings up another point. Does the city keep the lampposts lit all night even though the trail is closed? Seems like a waste of electricity if they do, but then how would police know if someone was using the trail when it's closed if there's no lighting. Hmmm.

I've never seen any signs like those posting at the parks saying whenthey closed. So I'm guessing that they trails are open all night or they would have a sign somewhere posting times of when they're open. Sometime I'll have to see how well lit up the Mudd Creek Trail is at night as well.

[OnDickson]

There's a lot of information on Fayetteville's trails and alternative transportation plan (both existing and proposed) at this link:

http://accessfayetteville.org/parks_recrea...aster_plan.html

It covers the entire plan and contains numerous maps of proposed trails in Fayetteville, as well the NWA Regional Trail Plan. I don't know if it is realistic to ever expect all of those trail corridors in the map to be completed but I can only imagine how wonderful it would be for folks to be able to reach every school and park, as well as most subdivisions and retail centers in the city via the trail system. In fact, it looks like you could reach nearly every square inch of the city by trail and or sidewalk once the plan is complete!

[Mith242]

There's a lot of information on Fayetteville's trails and alternative transportation plan (both existing and proposed) at this link:

http://accessfayetteville.org/parks_recrea...aster_plan.html

It covers the entire plan and contains numerous maps of proposed trails in Fayetteville, as well the NWA Regional Trail Plan. I don't know if it is realistic to ever expect all of those trail corridors in the map to be completed but I can only imagine how wonderful it would be for folks to be able to reach every school and park, as well as most subdivisions and retail centers in the city via the trail system. In fact, it looks like you could reach nearly every square inch of the city by trail and or sidewalk once the plan is complete!

Great, thanks for the info. I can't believe I somehow never saw that on that website before. Because I've used it before for info.

[mcheiss]

I like how Fayetteville uses lights on their trails, it definately gives it that Urban Feel.

[Mith242]

There's a lot of information on Fayetteville's trails and alternative transportation plan (both existing and proposed) at this link:

http://accessfayetteville.org/parks_recrea...aster_plan.html

It covers the entire plan and contains numerous maps of proposed trails in Fayetteville, as well the NWA Regional Trail Plan. I don't know if it is realistic to ever expect all of those trail corridors in the map to be completed but I can only imagine how wonderful it would be for folks to be able to reach every school and park, as well as most subdivisions and retail centers in the city via the trail system. In fact, it looks like you could reach nearly every square inch of the city by trail and or sidewalk once the plan is complete!

I'll have to check out those maps more closely but so far some of them that I've taken a lot at are confusing me. I've also been having a hard time finding just where exactly the current trails are. Guess I'll just have to look at them more closely till I find the map I'm wanting. Wish they weren't all pdf files. I was hoping to post an actual map here on the topic. Guess I can always print it off then take a pic of it.

[masons_dad1]

I'll have to check out those maps more closely but so far some of them that I've taken a lot at are confusing me. I've also been having a hard time finding just where exactly the current trails are. Guess I'll just have to look at them more closely till I find the map I'm wanting. Wish they weren't all pdf files. I was hoping to post an actual map here on the topic. Guess I can always print it off then take a pic of it.

Acrobat has a snap shot feature you can use to paste the snapshot into Microsoft Picture Manager to create a jpg file. In Acrobat if you click on the little camera icon on the menu bar then click and drag a box over an image in the pdf file it adds the image to your clipboard. From there you can paste it into a graphic file or even a word document.

[Mith242]

Looks like Fayetteville has extended one of it's trails. With the exception of putting up a little more fencing it's looks just about complete. This extends northward from what I've been calling the Scull Creek Trail. But I thought I had seen this section called the Frisco Trail because it is near the railroad. Not sure if it changes names across the road or if I've been calling it the wrong name. Either way now the Mill District is connected not just to the Fayetteville Public Library but now Dickson St. Here's a few pics. This goes right by the Spring Street Lofts, which is how I found out that this trail is now just about complete.

[mcheiss]

Cool.

I wish Rogers would do something like that.

[Mith242]

Cool.

I wish Rogers would do something like that.

Give it time, all the NWA cities are supposed to be slowly working on an overall trail system for the whole metro. I imagine they'll start doing more in the near future. Fayetteville just has a head start. With all of our 'hippies' who don't believe in owning a vehicle we had to have something.

[masons_dad1]

Very nice, although I'm not sure which I like better, Fayetteville's blacktop trails or Bentonville's cement trails. The blacktop may not weather as well, but the bold yellow stripes show up real nice and maintenance will probably be a lot easier. Plus blacktop is better for biking as it provides a smoother ride than cement slabs with cracks every 6 feet.

[Mith242]

Very nice, although I'm not sure which I like better, Fayetteville's blacktop trails or Bentonville's cement trails. The blacktop may not weather as well, but the bold yellow stripes show up real nice and maintenance will probably be a lot easier. Plus blacktop is better for biking as it provides a smoother ride than cement slabs with cracks every 6 feet.

I haven't seen any of Bentonville's trails. Concrete and asphalt each have their postive aspects. I never though about why Fayetteville hasn't built any concrete trails as opposed to asphalt.

[itk]

That is such a cool trail... I've been waiting for that one to open for as long as I can remember, since Fayetteville has talked about it for so long.

BTW, did anyone notice in that first pic the solar panel on top of the flashing signal post? Also, I'm not sure what that traffic control device is supposed to do... if you are on a bike, do you push that button, then the street facing signal flashes? Seems rather unusual, as cars have the right of way there i.e. cars won't yield anyway.