The Hatch Foundation has awarded Ozark Greenways a $255,000 grant to develop the Lone Pine Bike Park and Greenspace project. The park, which is located in the wooded area between the Galloway Creek Trail and Lone Pine Avenue west of Southern Hills Boulevard, got its start as a grassroots effort by residents of the Brentwood and Southern Hills neighborhoods, according to Ozark Greenways Executive Director Mary Kromrey.
Kromrey said back in 2019, she heard that youth were creating bike trails out of the dirt trails in that area off the Galloway Creek Trail north of Sequiota Park. She added that their efforts really took off in the spring of 2020 when people were staying home during the pandemic. She met with some of the residents last summer and wanted to continue the work they started, later holding mapping and visioning sessions to collect additional input about what the park could be.
“This amazing investment by the Hatch Foundation will bring many of the ideas from the mapping and visioning sessions to reality, including construction of up to three new miles of trail, trail features including a hub, refinement of some of the existing trails, significant ecological restoration to reduce stormwater runoff and soil erosion and improvements to the area with native trees, shrubs, grasses, and trail signs and kiosks,” she said.
The park can be accessed via the Galloway Creek Trail. Parking is available at Sequiota Park, 3500 S. Lone Pine, in front of Pershing Middle School at 2713 E. Seminole, or at the Battlefield shopping center at Lone Pine and Battlefield.
Estimated project timeline
Phase 1 of development will take place through December, with a primary focus on new trail construction in the large open field. Watershed Conservation Corps will be working in the woods on ecological restoration/improvements.
Phase 2 of development will take place January-May 2022, with a primary focus on refining and rerouting some of the existing trails in the woods. Watershed Conservations Corps will shift to working in the field. The corps will provide maintenance of the native trees and grasses for the next year.