GREEN RIVER — With the First Hike, Bike and Invoice Burning for the new Skyline Trail taking place Saturday, Green Belt Task Force Chairman John Freeman is reflecting how the project came to fruition.
The celebration begins at 10 a.m. at the Skyline Trail Parking Lot on Upland Way, while the invoice burning will be at 11 a.m. Participants can hang around until 2 p.m. and traverse the entirety of Skyline Trail. When a participants walk halfway through the trail, they can receive a T-shirt and if they walk the entirety of the trail, they’ll earn a free ticket for the raffle the task force is hosting.
Freeman appeared on “Let’s Talk with Al Harris” recently and spoke about the work going into Skyline Trail within the last year, as well as plans for the future.
The Skyline Trail saw construction on the four-mile loop throughout the entirety of 2024 with Searle Bros. Construction. Searle Bros. donated equipment and operators to the project for free while the task force paid for fuel and materials. When Freeman called the company in January with a check ready to go, he was told that the task force can take the work done during the year 2024 as a donation to the citizens and Sweetwater County. Freeman admits he was speechless when he was told he work was donated.
“It was kind of a surreal moment,” Freeman said.
The project total amounts to around $1 million and was made handicap accessible during the construction. The trail has a decreased incline and has been compacted at different levels to assist with wheelchair accessibility. This feature was suggested by Dustin Shillcox, a paraplegic, and instead of Skyline Trail remaining as a one-track trail, it became a two-track. Freeman said these types of trails, handicap accessible with no barriers, have become a nationwide movement.
Freeman was questioned about what the trail allowed when hikers traveled along the paths, responding that motorized vehicles weren’t allowed and neither were electric bikes that weren’t pedal assisted. The task force has been speaking with the police department about having special patrol routes in order to enforce this regulation.
“We have trouble in paradise her in Green River too … Most people don’t have a problem with pedal assist but we have people that have mobility trouble and the only bicycle they can ride has got a throttle,” Freeman said.
