CRATA expands trail system into Elmore County with help from Forever Wild, Alabama Power and the county commission
Cherokee Ridge Alpine Trail Association (CRATA) this spring expects to open a 5-mile trail south of Martin Dam. The first such trail in Elmore County, the cooperative effort between CRATA, Forever Wild Land Trust, Alabama Power Company and the Elmore County Commission launches an effort that eventually will triple the mileage of the trail system in Central Alabama, with the largest number of miles – as many as 25 miles of trail – in Elmore County alone.
After a year of planning, CRATA volunteers in November began clearing the old railroad bed that nearly a century ago was built for the construction of Martin Dam. When the dam was complete, the rails were removed and the bed abandoned, though most of the earthen structures remained in place.
The initial trail will stretch from Kent, Alabama, to a parking lot on Goldmine Road and will feature vistas from the 100-foot bluffs above Yates Lake, deep gorges through picturesque open woods and a moderate, low-grade hike through Forever Wild lands. Though the original 5-mile trail is not a loop, CRATA founder Jimmy K. Lanier of Eclectic said it would include designated turn-around areas for hikers who desire a shorter trek or do not wish to traverse the entire trail at one time.
Parking areas will be developed at both ends of the railroad trail, so hikers can access it from either the north or south trailhead. The Elmore County Commission will assist the project with road maintenance on Goldmine Road to give trail-building volunteers access to the work sites. The commission also will perform parking lot preparation work at the north end of the trail.
Forever Wild is finalizing its purchase of Alabama Power Company property that lies adjacent to the wildlife management area the land trust already owns. Along with a smaller land acquisition, the trail system property will encompass more than 5,000 acres of land.
The project hatched from a hike Lanier took through part of the area more than a year ago. His initial foray took him from the foot of Martin Dam to Chaneyhatchee Creek where a trestle bridge once supported the trains crossing the gorge.
“It was beautiful, just spectacularly beautiful. I went back and talked to the CRATA board of directors about putting a trail system in there,” Lanier said.
With the board in agreement, Lanier approached Forever Wild about creating a hiking trail on the property. In April, representatives from Forever Wild, Alabama Power Company, the Elmore County Commission and CRATA met to discuss the project. They marked a preliminary route on a map of the area and hiked the railroad bed from the north end to the gorge. Later, Forever Wild trustees agreed to purchase additional lands to complete the new trail.
The trail also would offer a glimpse into the history of Martin Dam.
Completed in 1926, construction on the dam began in 1923. At that time, the Highline Railroad on the west side of the Tallapoosa River and a Lowline Railroad on the river’s east bank were built to transport the building materials to the dam worksite. The Lowline Railroad brought supplies and materials to the site, and the Highline Railroad brought sand, gravel and cement to the mix plant.
Today, little remains of this historical route, other than the beds upon which the rails once laid. In the 90-plus years that have passed since the rails were taken up, the beds have suffered some minor erosion in places and trees have grown up on the relatively flat 1 to 3 percent grade of the bed.
The trail work began last fall as soon as temperatures dipped into the 40s and 50s, said CRATA’s Smith Mountain trail maintenance manager, Mike Wilson.
“It needs to be cool enough that we can work in the woods without being overheated or having to deal with critters like snakes on the trail,” Wilson explained.
Trail building is a long, laborious effort that began with the planning and marking of the route, Wilson said.
“Then we have to go in with chain saws and cut down the smaller trees that are in the trailway, clear out the brush and move off the dead trees that fallen across the path. After that, we need to rake the trail and get down to the dirt where we can see if there are any holes we need to fill or grading we need to do. And remember,” he said, “all of this work needs to be done by hand. We can’t get any machinery in here, so we have to hike in with our tools.”
Several picnic and recreation areas have been designated on the property, and Wilson said benches will be made there so hikers can relax and enjoy the views.
At least six bridges will be built along the route, including a trestle across the Channahatchee Creek gorge, which runs more than the length of a football field from the bed on the south side to that on the north. Forever Wild has agreed to provide primary financing support for the bridge, and a professional engineer has offered services to design the bridge and oversee its construction, but additional funds will be needed to complete the route.
“It’s really phenomenal what we’ve been able to accomplish, as small as this organization is,” Wilson said. “We have a small board of directors and membership, but we believe in the service we are offering the public to give people access to these great hikes.”
Since its founding in 2004, CRATA has built 17 miles of pedestrian-only trails in three locations that skirt the shoreline of Lake Martin. The Deadening Alpine Trail is a 4.2-mile challenging loop that rewards hikers with views that include the top of Lake Martin’s Chimney Rock and thickets of mountain laurel and rhododendron and breathtaking rock formations, such as the Needles Eye and Jasmine Bluff.
Just to the south of the Deadening trail, the Cherokee Ridge loops offer hikers options that range from 1 to 7 miles, starting and ending at Overlook Park northeast of Martin Dam and just 1 mile from the Goldmine Road entrance to the new trail.
In addition, CRATA volunteers restored an old fire lookout tower atop Smith Mountain 20 miles to the north on the east side of Lake Martin. They built a trail system there that winds along the sides of one of the highest mountain in Tallapoosa County and includes an Island Hop Trail that is only accessible when the water level of the lake is down.
Though the new trail the non-profit association is building in Elmore County is just 5 miles, Wilson said, the long-term vision calls for additional trails through the Forever Wild property, including a spur to Saddle Rock, which is Elmore County’s highest point. As of yet, there is no timeline for completion of the entire system of trails, Wilson said.
“With the size of our group, all we can do at this point is identify a single project and work to complete it. When we get that done, we can turn our attention to the next one,” he said.
Donations to CRATA are tax deductible and can be sent to CRATA, Attn: Jimmy K. Lanier, P.O. Box 240503, Eclectic AL 36024. To volunteer with CRATA to finish the trail or work on other projects with the association, contact Lanier at 334-541-2729.
