>From today's Palatka Daily News, unfortunately it's not online so I have to retype. --craig

Lake Butler trail to offer picnic spots and restrooms

By Brad Buck

Near State Road 100 in Florahome, workers are starting to clear and mow a 47-mile trail corridor for the Palatka to Lake Butler State Trail.

Work started last week on the $11.5-million project and will continue west to Lake Butler, state Department of Environmental Protection officials said.

At a hearing nearly two years ago, DEP officials said the soonest construction could start on the trail was 2006, when $1.6 million in federal money may be available.

The state bought the land for the trail from Norfolk Southern and Florida Railroad Company. The trail will go through Putnam, Union, Clay, and Bradford counties, said Jena Brooks, director of the Office of Greenways and Trails, which is part of DEP.

At various parts, the trail could include equestrian, pedestrian, and bicycle trails, picnic tables, restrooms and informational kiosks, said K.C. Bloom, a park planner for DEP.

Plans call for nine trail heads, where some or all of the facilities would be located, Bloom said. The trail would be an average of 100 feet wide, with a 10- to 12-foot paved area and natural areas next to the pavement, she said. The trail heads would start on a spot across from the St. Johns River Water Management District Headquarters on State Road 100 (just West of Palatka), then another at Etoniah Creak State Forest and Putnam Hall in Putnam County, Bloom said.

When finished, it will be the longest contiguous trail in Florida, she said.

The Palatka to Lake Butler State Trail will be part of the Florida National Scenic Trail, a 1,400-mile system that will one day stretch across parts of the Panhandle down through South Florida, Brooks said.


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