Vandals destroyed a portion of the soon-to-open Atlas mountain bike trail at Enterprise South Nature Park, breaking emergency signs, spray-painting phallic symbols and driving a four-wheeler on the trail.
The 5.5-mile trail was nearly finished and a grand opening is scheduled for Saturday, April 14. Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association volunteers working to build the trail system found the damage Friday morning and believe it was done overnight.
"We're not going to be deterred by this," SORBA Vice President Craig Lawson said. "If this was an attempt to deter us or keep us from riding, it isn't going to work."
A broken sign is seen along the Atlas Trial at Enterprise South Nature Park on Friday, April 6, 2018 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The group still plans to open the trail on April 14 with a grand opening event scheduled for 1 p.m., weather pending. Volunteers will be able to get the trail ridable in time, Lawson said, but some of the signs and maps will not able to be fixed until a later date.
Most of the damage was done to signs and safety posts, which are used for navigation in case of an emergency. Two Eagle Scout projects that added mapping and additional signs were vandalized. One of the projects was ruined and will be replaced. The vandals also drove a four-wheeler on the trail and destroyed a berm – an elevated embankment used around curves.
SORBA vice president Craig Lawson examines a broken safety pole along the Atlas Trial at Enterprise South Nature Park on Friday, April 6, 2018 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
"This has been three years worth of work and hundreds of volunteer hours have gone into this," Lawson said. "We were putting on the final touches. Everything was in place. This was paid for by donations ... and the sweat equity of volunteers put into this five-and-a-half miles."
Hamilton County representatives, through Lawson, declined to comment but are allowing SORBA to speak about the incident. A police report has been filed, he said.
The trail is the first partnership between the county and the volunteer organization.
Atlas will be the first true intermediate trail at the nature park and the longest individual trail.
Contact staff writer Mark Pace at mpace@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659. Follow him on Twitter @themarkpace and on Facebook at Chattanooga OutdoorsTFP.
A vandalized sign and a broken safety pole are seen along the Atlas Trial at Enterprise South Nature Park on Friday, April 6, 2018 in Chattanooga, Tenn.