Kellogg’s Loop Trail Work on National Trails Day
June 7 @ 9:00 am - 12:00 pm EDT
Rugby State Natural Area friends and trail volunteers, this date June 7 marks National Trails Day. In observance, we’ll have a work day to improve the Kellogg’s Loop Trail.
Travis Bow, our stewardship ecologist for the newly created Upper Cumberland District of State Natural Areas, has been rerouting sections of Kellogg’s Loop in preparation for rebuilding Little Creek Bridge. There are opportunities for volunteer work in trail clearing, invasive plant removal, applying paint blazes to mark the trail, and clearing the way to the bridge construction site. Hours of volunteer labor will count as in-kind matching for the Little Creek Bridge reconstruction grant.
NO NEED to register for this. We’ll meet 9 a.m. Eastern at the Rugby Visitor Centre and carpool from there to the project site. We’ll finish by Noon to allow anyone who wishes to attend Historic Rugby’s Annual Meeting at 1 p.m. Watch for any changes (like a rain-out) on the website, and plan to help if you can. Travis has a trail-clearing machine, so volunteer efforts would likely include a bit more raking and light clearing in the path of the completed machine cuts. Bring gloves & work clothes, wear boots if possible & pack a light lunch, water and bug spray. Tools will be provided.
The bridge grant still requires a match of at least $30,000 in real dollars. We’ve raised at least$23,000 to this point, so please consider making a monetary donation to Historic Rugby designated for Bridge Replacement. That would be a great memorial tribute to Eric Wilson and Bob Hemminger, who first showed Beacon Hill newcomers the Crack and aspired to make it more accessible via Cox Branch Trail and the old wooden bridge.
Thanks very much, Benita Howell
(Photo is the old bridge after it washed downstream in 2021 flooding)