Monday was shirtsleeves weather here in Tulsa and I went to Turkey Mountain for a hike and see the progress on the trails. In the above pic, if you squint really hard you can see a small tracked backhoe working on a new trail. I gave them room and went the other way.
The new trails, are wide, and rock free, for the most part. They are built to be kind of “flowy” so there is gentle bends from side and side and up and down to enhance the experience for moutainbikers.
The new trails are open to everybody except horseback riders. They are trying to get the trails packed down really hard. They have a bunch of signage to encourage people to share the road. The mountain bikers love the trails and can get going pretty fast. So far I have not had a problem with bikers not being polite.
The new trails seem to be encouraging more people to go deeper into the mountain park than before especially families. The old trails were very rocky and technical and not family friendly at all. So people are getting away from the parking lot it seems.
But even though there were a lot of people on a sunny afternoon, there was lots of room for everybody.
There was some recently opened new trail on the cliffs overlooking the Arkansas River. It is nice having professionally designed switchbacks. Before this, the vertical trails just went straight up the hill and given all the rain we have the trails turned into gullies quickly.
So it was a good day for chilling out.
The RiverParks staff likes to have fun with the visitors. They are also continuing to build more trail and I expect there will be networks and loops of professionally designed and constructed trail reaching deep into the park. I’m loving it so far!!
A brief video of my adventure Monday.
Wednesday night, Russia invaded the Ukraine is a puzzling power play. Lots of people have died already. Earlier this week I got a postcard from somebody in Berlin showing the Berlin Airlift back in 1948 or so. It’s so ironic that here we are over seventy years later dealing with Russian aggression in Europe.
I’m linking with Skywatch Friday. Come join in!!
…thanks for the preview of what our weather will be like in awhile. Take care and stay well.
Hope you have better trails real soon – the sky is a beautiful blue
Something magical about a trail winding through the trees. Cool video!
Wow! That is a wonderful trail being build and the video was a great visual ~ good to be outdoors ~ with a wonderful trail ~ Xo
We had spring like weather yesterday ~ now a major snow storm is predicted ~ world is falling apart ~ nature wise and world wide ~ yet another war starting ~ enough already ~
Wishing you lots of love and peace in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Wow! That is a wonderful trail being build and the video was a great visual ~ good to be outdoors ~ with a wonderful trail ~ Xo
We had spring like weather yesterday ~ now a major snow storm is predicted ~ world is falling apart ~ nature wise and world wide ~ yet another war starting ~ enough already ~
Wishing you lots of love and peace in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Me alegro que lo hayanpasado bien. Es muy triste lo de Ucrania. Te mando un beso.
Me alegro que lo hayanpasado bien. Es muy triste lo de Ucrania. Te mando un beso.
Great winter shots.
It sure not shirt sleeve here, in North Idaho.
Coffee is on and stay safe
You have a wonderful area to be with nature.
Worth a Thousand Words
This is a wonderful trail. I like all these pictures and sky views through the tree branches.
Thanks for sharing with us.
Alan – glad they are making improvements that encourage more people to get outside. I figure every one of those folks is one more champion for preserving our planet. And then there is Putin. Oh my.
The trails look inviting. One of the trails in Shenandoah National Park (Old Rag) has gotten so overcrowded that you now need to make a reservation ahead of time. It is a challenging trail with an exciting climb over rocks at the mountain peak. I did it in my teens but could not do it now.
You say that it’s ironic dealing with Russian aggression seventy years after the Berlin airlift. It’s even more ironic to see a former President, a former Secretary of State, and a leading news (?) outlet supporting it.
Beautiful blue sky! Love the trees, too!
Great new hiking trails! I would really enjoy walking along the river! And shirtsleeve weather? What’s that? We are still in a deep freeze with no sun for days!!
That’s a great looking trail to walk on. Cool video, I liked it.
Have a wonderful weekend.
I need easy trails nowadays and I think I would enjoy walking the trails you were on, at least in non-bug season. Winter is starting to wear on me, and I thank you for bringing me a few minutes of almost spring.
I hope with the new trails that people are using it more, they look more accessible to me.
Beautiful captures all!
you are so lucky to have all those new (feet friendly) trails.
I am not overly fond of multiple use trails, but they do look in good condition.
Crazy weather changes from this post to the subsequent one — I’ll take this day please! Love the trail system and it would be fun to meet Bigfoot if that is what you call him in OK … he looks like the one we have (not) seen in Oregon but here in Florida we have the swamp ape. Or so they say.