Road cyclists have a new, longer option to ride at Enterprise South Nature Park, where a grand opening was held Tuesday for the paved Magnolia Loop trail.
Open to both cyclists and pedestrians, the 6-mile trail addition follows alongside the vehicle-only Still Hollow Loop around the perimeter of the 2,800-acre nature park.
"We had had multiple input from people in the public that wanted that a longer bicycle route," Hamilton County Parks and Recreation Director Tom Lamb said, adding that Still Hollow Loop offers a pavement surface combined with gravel-like material that is steep in some areas and rough for road cyclists to use.
"They wanted some sort of shared path that traveled the same route where they had a nice long distance, lots of hills, decline."
The $750,000 used to build the trail came from an anonymous donor, he said.
"I just really appreciate people, whoever this is," Greg Martin, then a Hamilton County commissioner, said when the commission accepted the donation in June 2019. "I just appreciate people that have those kinds of resources and want to invest them in our community like that. It's just wonderful when people just have enough and think enough about their community to do those types of investments."
Enterprise South also has 16 miles of mountain biking trails, 10 miles of hiking trails and 10 miles of horse trails.
(READ MORE: More advanced mountain bike trail to open at Enterprise South Nature Park)
Still Hollow Loop, which has been closed intermittently during construction of the Magnolia Loop, has been reopened to vehicle traffic.
Located at 190 Still Hollow Loop, Enterprise South Nature Park is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.
Contact Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6508.