The Times-Tribune
CORBIN —
Special to The Times-Tribune
March is Sheltowee Trace Month and local and state organizations are pushing for a trail-wide cleanup and re-blazing effort of all 282 miles of the Sheltowee Trace.
Locally, Sheltowee Trace Outfitters, located near Cumberland Falls, is hosting a Blaze the Trace event on Sunday.
Registration is at 8:30 a.m. Volunteers will be cleaning up the trail and re-marking blazes on the section between the mouth of the Laurel Boat Ramp and Laurel River Dam, an approximately 2.4-mile section of the trail.
“The trail sections right around Cumberland Falls and Laurel Lake are in pretty good shape,” said Dania Egedi, general manager of Sheltowee Trace Outfitters. “But the connecting sections need some attention.”
The dates for the local effort were chosen to dove-tail with the PRIDE cleanup near Cumberland Falls on Saturday.
“We are hoping that people will make a weekend out of it,” Egedi said. “We are offering free tent camping for volunteers that weekend.”
Steve Barbour, Executive Director of Sheltowee Trace Association, wants people to get out and hike the trail.
“The Sheltowee Trace is the backbone of the trail system throughout the Daniel Boone National Forest. We encourage Kentuckians to get out this year and rediscover this treasure. Volunteers are crucial to the Trace. We value their help in our efforts to mark the trail and in keeping it open for all users.”
Volunteers can pre-register online for the Blaze the Trace Saturday event at www.ky-rafting.com or by calling (606) 526-7238. Volunteers should bring lunch, snacks and water, work gloves, and wear boots or heavy-soled shoes. Organizers will provide trash bags and transportation.
The Sheltowee Trace Association can be reached at www.sheltoweetrace.org or (606) 798-5215.
The Sheltowee Trace is a 282-mile long National Recreation Trail that runs from Pickett State Park in Tennessee, up through the Daniel Boone National Forest near Morehead.
See www.sheltoweetrace.com for additional details.
