Last year was incredible for us as an organization! So thank you to everybody that contributed! It was our first year "in business" as trail builders and I wanted to share what we were able to accomplish, on basically no budget.
Dragon's Tooth is where this all started. It was designated as a novice-beginner area and the first objective was to have the trailhead in the upper parking lot coming into the main entrance to Salem Lake. Another objective was to fill a gap in the types of trail we have in Forsyth County which is the "little tykes." The central draw to this area is a very short, very flat loop designed with riders from 2 years old to 5+ (think strider bike). The accompanying trail is designed as a natural progression once basic skills are mastered in the "Dragon's Belly." The outer loop is what is being dubbed "Dragon's Tooth" because of the rock formation that was discovered in the northwest corner of that plot when we were scouting. The outer loop is ~.3 miles and is suitable for all skill levels. The trailbeds are done and there are just a few more details to wrap up before the City officially opens it in March. This was a trial by fire, but I think it came out great!
Since the trail building has wrapped up on Dragon's Tooth, we started construction on overhauling the north side of the lake. The first phase of this project that has been developed with the City's approval will be the area west of the first creek crossing if you're traveling west to east. So far, the plan consists of just over three miles of trail. Within those three miles of trails will be the first section of Tobacco Road, our backbone trail that will serve all skill levels and ride west to east, ending at Linville Rd. It starts at the top of the hill near the New Greensboro Rd parking area and is roughly .8 miles until you get to the first creek crossing. It still needs a lot of work to be finished but we made a ton of progress on it. It has been completely roughed in and the first half is finished.
The other major accomplishment is the start of our first ever flow trail called Cedar Run. It starts on the western side of the Sinkhole and flows .2 miles down to catch Tobacco road at the bottom. It's far from finished but the trail bed has been constructed and we will get back to building features as soon as time and resources allow.
It didn't come without it's hiccups and challenges, but we have a motto around here: There's a solution for every problem. We worked through everything that was thrown at us and came out more prepared and eager to ramp up production.
All-in-all, we started with ~3.4 miles of new trail planned, completed ~.8 miles and still have ~.6 miles still under construction. I would call last year a huge success and I'm so excited to keep making progress. The only thing holding us back now is time and money so if you have either of those to give, you can help us continue making headway on these huge goals. If you would like to donate money, it's tax deductible and you can make a single donation through our PayPal. If you want to make your money more effective, you can become a member of FORBA a select your level of recurring donations, monthly sustainers are what keeps us alive. If you have time to donate, please contact us with how you would like to help, even if you can't build trail, there's so much more that can be done. We always need help with documentation, communications, fundraising, and more. Whatever you're passion is, we can plug it in.
Trail | Difficulty | Length | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Dragon's Tooth | Beginner | .3 miles | Complete |
Tobacco Road - Phase 1 | Beginner | .8 miles | 50% complete |
Cedar Run | Intermediate | .2 miles | 10% complete |
Sinkhole | Advanced | N/A | 5% complete |
This organization owes everything to the people who have contributed to it and the community will forever be grateful and I look forward to seeing you all out enjoying the trails!
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