HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, Arkansas — A portion of Hot Springs’ Northwoods mountain bike trail system will be closed to the public from 8 a.m. March 30 until the afternoon of April 3 to allow crews to install a new bridge in the Waterworks area of the trail system
The portion of the trails known as the Waterworks Trails will be closed, according to Traci Berry, trails coordinator for Visit Hot Springs. The Cedar Glades biking trails will remain open, she said.
“The Northwoods Waterworks Trails will be closed to allow for site preparation, delivery, and installation of the new Bethel Bridge,” Berry said. “If everything goes as planned, we will be able to reopen the afternoon of April 3.”
Todd Piller with the City of Hot Springs Engineering Department said the closure would allow for preparing Pineland Drive and the parking lot for a large crane by moving boulders, removing some vegetation and other work. He said Mooney Crane Service will move in a crane Tuesday, March 30, and two bridge sections will be delivered on Wednesday, April 1. The bridge sections will be installed April 1 and April 2. Safety barriers will be put into place April 3 and the crane will be removed.
Berry said the Bethel Bridge will be within the old Waterworks property and will be used by utilities/Waterworks staff as well as Northwoods Trails staff and emergency medical staff if needed to access the area of the property north of Bethel Lake and west of Dillon Lake. It will be rated for heavy machinery/vehicle traffic as well as bike and foot traffic.
Berry said the new Pullman Avenue access trail will be closed to the public if it is completed by March 30. She said the connection between Cedar Glades trails and the Waterworks trails also will be closed at Wildcat Crossing and Hub J as well as the main entrance to the trails on Pineland Drive.
“While this project is being completed,” Berry said, “we invite our riders to make use of the other trails in the area: Cedar Glades Park; the three International Mountain Bike Association Epic trails — the Womble, LOViT, and Ouachita National Recreation Trail — and Iron Mountain in Arkadelphia.”
For information call Traci Berry at 501-321-2027.
