POPLAR BLUFF, MO | November 30, 2021
Poplar Bluff Trails Coalition, in partnership with the Poplar Bluff Chamber of Commerce, recently celebrated the opening of the Oak Grove Trail at Kiwanis Club’s Bacon Memorial Park with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The half-mile natural surface hiking and biking trail winds through a mature oak forest on the westside of the park. The trail connects to the paved loop trail in the park, which connects to the Greenway Trail and several parcels of land owned by the City of Poplar Bluff, including Hendrickson Park. The trail was constructed 100% by volunteers using specialized hand tools such as field hoes, McLeods, Pulaskis, loppers and handsaws. Over 60 hours of volunteer labor went into the project.
“We’re pleased to offer the public the first natural surface, non-motorized trail in the Poplar Bluff city limits,” said Jon Breithaupt, PBTC volunteer project manager, who designed the trail and led the volunteer crew who built the trail by hand. “We hope this easily accessible trail will inspire the next generation of hikers, trail runners and mountain bikers, right in the heart of our city. Eventually, this trail will connect to the 21-mile long Wolf Creek Trail System through a series of paved connector trails. Poplar Bluff is poised to be a trail destination given our extensive availability of public land and over 140 miles of non-motorized trails within 40 minutes of town.”
Brock Littles, PBTC President commented, “Oak Grove Trail is centrally located in town and can be accessed easily for those that may want to take a quick hike after work or over their lunch break. It’s also a good introductory trail for anyone that is a beginner or perhaps intimidated by a walk in the woods. The Poplar Bluff Middle School and the Boys and Girls Club are adjacent to the trail, so hopefully it will get some use by younger kids, too. I would like to say ‘Thank you’ to the Poplar Bluff Kiwanis Club and all volunteers who contributed to this project.”
Poplar Bluff Trails Coalition (PBTC) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization based out of Poplar Bluff, Missouri. The Coalition is an all-volunteer group that plans, promotes, builds and maintains trails in the greater Poplar Bluff area. Its service area includes Butler, Carter, Wayne, Dunklin Counties. PBTC can be followed on Facebook and Instagram @poplarblufftrails.