Polk Trails Newsletter
April 2023
2023 is the North Carolina year of the trail and we want you to get outdoors this year! Check out all the wonderful trails Polk County has to offer & go for a hike. This is a wonderful opportunity to check out improvements that trails in the area have undergone. Make 2023 your Year of Adventure.

While hiking tag us on Instagram or Facebook using the #pocoyearofthetrail
We are interested in your input regarding Guided Hikes. Click here to answer a short survey so we can tailor hikes to the Community needs.

Make sure you check out the events calendar for hikes on Polk Trails with some of our Community Partners.
TRAIL HIGHLIGHTS
This month we are visiting the Tom Raymond Fitness Trail in Columbus. The trail head is behind the EMS building across from the St. Luke's emergency room entrance. It is .8 miles out & back.

It features 8 fitness stations along the wide gravel trail. It is an easy hike in a relaxing setting. This trail connects to the Isothermal Community College Loop. 

The trail volunteers are working on updating the trail head sign & fixing rain damage. If you are interested in helping on this trail, our next trail workday is April 4th from 9-11am. Check out our website for all our trail workdays. We love the help from our volunteers.

Additional maps & information for Tom Raymond Fitness Trail can be found on our website!
TRAILS COMMITTEE MEETING

Monday, April 24th at 6:00pm
Meeting will be at the covered pavilion across from Stearns Gym!

We are always looking for new ideas to make our trails better than they already are. Send us your questions and updates via email!

OTHER NEWS

As Spring approaches and you start making plans for gatherings remember that the large picnic shelter at the Recreation Complex can be reserved for private events....birthday parties, showers, family reunions.

In an effort to streamline the process for residents we have created an online form for reservation requests. We will respond to your request with an email confirmation.


MIND YOUR MANNERS
Most trails, if they are open, may not have public facilities that are open, so check ahead of time. Please keep dogs on-leash on any hiking trail, take your trash with you, etc. Thanks for doing your part!
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

We are looking for 2 volunteers to host a Polk Trails table on
April 28th at Polk County High School for the Stand By Me Polk event. Event begins at 4:30pm. If you are interested please reach out to us via email!


In April trail work days will be from 9-11am.

Tuesday, April 4th @ Tom Raymond Fitness Trail
Tuesday, April 11th @ Recreation Complex
Friday, April 21st @ Alexander Ford
Friday, April 28th @ ICC Library Loop


If you would like to help us with trail work, please contact trails@polknc.org and we will let you know when additional workdays are scheduled.

If you'd rather work on your own, feel free to walk a trail, picking up trash and moving small branches from the trails. Please don't cut any branches; if a trail needs more attention, email trails@polknc.org and we will take care of it or bring it to that trail manager's attention.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
We manage trail work days, various partnerships and other trail-related initiatives in the county.

The online calendar has been updated for April

E-Mail contact information for us: trails@polknc.org