Osceola and Clarke County’s parks and trails have seen substantial improvements over the past year-and-a-half. With the submission of an additional $45,000 from the Clarke County Development Corporation, the final steps to completion of the Q-Pond park trail system are in the works. With the fantastic weather forecast for the coming week, it would be a great opportunity to gather up friends and family and head out and see for yourselves.
The Q-Pond trail system is just part of the overarching parks and trails improvement focus the CCDC has committed to recently. With the funding given to the City at the last Council meeting, final clearing and paving of the trails finishes the loop around Q-Pond and across the dam – making almost a mile and a half of paved activity access for cyclists, joggers, or leisurely strolls through the park.
You’ll see a number of other activities around Clarke County and Osceola contributing to the local trails as well as the health, wellness and safety focus the Development Corporation has been driving in recent years. With the Safe Routes to School program, the city now connects Clarke Elementary to local neighborhoods as well as creates a path from the north end of the city at Q-Pond to the school — an almost complete link between the high school and elementary. Future development plans look at connecting the high school to the Q-Pond trails.
In addition to the trails being developed through the City, the Development Corporation has been working closely to support the updates and additional trail planning taking place at East Lake Park. In the October Development Corporation board meeting, Scott Kent, Director of the Clarke County Conservation Board, outlined funding needs for additional trail plans that would connect East Lake Park with the existing Safe Routes to School paths at the Elementary School.
“We have a great vision for the future of our community. We’d like to eventually have our very own Dam-to-Dam run once this is complete,” Bill Trickey, CCDC Executive Director said of the abundance of active paths the area will soon have.
With the numerous trail and park updates as well as the recently launched bike share program, Clarke County and Osceola look to be making tremendous strides toward providing the amenities needed for a better quality of life and future community growth.
If you have questions about current or future trail updates or how Clarke County Development Corporation plans to continue their partnership with the community’s health and wellness, contact Bill Trickey, Executive Director at Clarke County Development Corporation, phone 641-342-2944, or email [email protected].
