The town of Clarkdale will host an open house for its trails master plan on Thursday, Feb. 8, from 5:30 until 7:30 p.m. at the Clark Memorial Clubhouse.
The draft master plan, called Connect Clarkdale, is available on the town’s website. Residents can digitally comment directly on the draft plan online.
The Clarkdale Parks and Recreation Department conducted a community-wide survey in 2020 to identify what amenities were most important to residents and concluded that trail system opportunities were the most-desired amenity. Survey respondents wanted various types of trails, such as those connecting neighborhoods to local recreation features, schools and state parks. Approximately 100 residents responded to the survey.
The plan proposes 47 miles of trails, including connector trails, multi-use paths, pedestrian sidewalks, nature trails and on-street bike lanes with nine trailheads. It will incorporate the town’s existing trails as well. The top 11 projects are estimated to cost around $6.1 million.
Clarkdale’s General Plan, which was adopted in 2021, included the goal of “providing access to linkages between open space, parks and user specific destinations.”
Current trails in Clarkdale include:
- Dorothy Benatz Trail
- Big Springs Nature Trail
- Tuzigoot River Access Point trails
- Lower TAPCO River Access Point trails
- Mescal Wash Trail
- Blowout Wash trails
- Mountain Gate subdivision trails
There are two Verde River access points in Clarkdale.
One of the proposed trails is the Verde Valley Circle Trail, which would be a network of around 90 miles of trails connecting Clarkdale with Cottonwood, Camp Verde and Sedona in a full loop. Eight miles of the trail would run through Clarkdale.
Challenges to creating many of the trails include road crossings, waterway crossings, active railroads, environmental contaminants from mining operations and a lack of infrastructure for bicyclists.
