Outdoor recreation, activities are big focus in Oak Hill

Apr. 11—Editor's note: This article was originally printed in "Introductions," the Tribune's annual progress edition, on March 28.

OAK HILL — As 2024 marches on, more and more activity will be seen at the city's Needleseye Park and on the local recreation scene as the push for expanded outdoor recreation projects widens, officials say.

In mid-February, bids were sought for a contractor to perform work on about 7 miles of soft surface trails at Needleseye Park, according to Tyler Bragg, the Oak Hill GIS director. In a legal notice for the project, the City of Oak Hill, in partnership with the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority, sought qualified natural soft surface trail builders to construct 7 miles of shared-use and bike-only singletrack at Needleseye. The preferred completion date for the work is by November 2024. The deadline for submission of quotes was March 11.

"There's definitely a lot going on," Bragg said in an interview earlier this year. "It's really a focus on outdoor recreation recently, from not only on a local level but at the state level and the national level ... We've really got a lens on outdoor recreation right now, so we're just trying to take advantage of that."

The soft surface trail work is a continuance of efforts to expand Needleseye for use by hikers, bikers, climbers, bird watchers and others since the city acquired the nearly 300-acre site from Berwind Land Company in 2017.

In 2021, the Fayette Trail Coalition developed a soft surface trails master plan in collaboration with several other organizations. Needleseye Park is a component of that plan, along with Wolf Creek Park, Fayette County Park and Fayetteville Town Park.

"FTC is very excited by the momentum on implementing the soft surface trail that we finalized in 2021 in collaboration with WVU's Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative," Abbie Newell, president of the Fayette Trail Coalition, said in February. "There has been a tremendous amount of effort done to get this far and we truly appreciate how hard the City of Oak Hill has worked to make this happen. They have had a vision for Needleseye Park for a long time and we are pleased to partner with them on the trail component.

"In the next year we hope to see the multi-use trails built and the community be able to enjoy them. Beyond the Needleseye project, we hope to have the opportunity to work with the City of Oak Hill on any future trail projects."

Bragg said the recent advertised work will primarily be geared at constructing trails inside Needleseye. "With the construction, that provides a very feasible connection to the Rend Trail down in Minden," he said. One of the trails will present the chance for short connectivity between Needleseye and Rend, which is on National Park Service property.

Josh Sapio, Oak Hill's parks and recreation director, stressed that the trails will be multi-use trails.

"There's been a lot of trail design work that's happened, and trail flagging, and there's been trailhead development," said Bragg. Workshops have also been staged with the primary stakeholders to discuss trailheads, parking and other issues.

"Several months ago, we secured engineering services from Thrasher Engineering for the final design of the trailhead," said Bragg. A conceptual plan has been finalized, and the process has moved into the construction drawing phase.

Tree clearing for the trailhead was expected to be completed by the end of March, involving 0.5 acres of land being cleared for an expanded parking lot at the trailhead.

As far as trailhead construction, Bragg said an anticipated completion date wasn't firm earlier this year, but "we hope as we approach next fall we'll be pretty close to completion."

According to Sapio, a restroom facility with ADA capabilities, as well as a trailhead kiosk, are in the plans, too. A pavilion has been erected onsite.

Sapio said that currently a blue blazed single-track trail that advances into the western territory of the park, beginning at the parking area, is in operation at Needleseye. "Currently blazed, in existence and being used. Multi-use. We are seeing people bike on it," he said.

Also, an 18-hole disc golf course is being completed at the park. The course is in existence and being used some now, although it was not fully complete in late winter. As of mid-February, there were 18 baskets in place, throwing lanes were cut and being finalized, and work was ongoing on installing the concrete tee pads. At the time, 10 were in place, with 16 more to go and "hopefully that work gets done this spring," Sapio noted.

Bragg estimated an overall spring or summer completion of the disc golf course. "The months ahead will hopefully be busy months," he said.

Rock climbers, original explorers of the land about three decades ago, have remained active at Needleseye. "Climbers are certainly out there," said Sapio. "They were the probably the first ones to experience the park back in the '90s. They are certainly out there now, and putting up routes and advertising those routes via the Mountain Project." Sapio also said that Bragg is compiling a map of the entire cliff system with route names.

Bragg estimated between 20 and 30 recognized routes at this point and "probably more." He said it's very likely there are numerous routes of which city officials aren't aware. The aim is to secure historical information, route names, etc.

"Climbers are telling us that there are probably easily a couple hundred routes that could go in there," said Sapio.

----As the warmer months approach, several projects are planned by the Oak Hill Parks and Recreation Department. Among the activities will be hiking events, a kids naturalist program, a rails-to-trails day and a fun day at Russell Matthews Park, according to Sapio. Below is information on some of the activities:

—Join the city for a hike at Needleseye Park from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 13 and Sunday, Aug. 4. A professional guide will lead participants on an interpretive hike into the park to explore the Needleseye Boulder and other notable rock features. A round-trip hike over moderate terrain will be approximately 2 miles. Closed toed footwear, appropriate clothing, water and snacks are encouraged.

—Celebrate Trails Day on the White Oak Rail Trail on Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Meet at the train depot.

The parks and recreation department and the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy will sponsor the event.

Activities that day will include trash pickup, a 2-mile fun run for all ages, a free bike maintenance station, a group bike ride and food trucks onsite.

—A Kids Naturalist Program will be held at Needleseye Park from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 22 and Saturday, July 20. Children ages 5-12 accompanied by family members or guardians are invited to take part in the free program.

—Fun in the Park Day at Russell E. Mathews Park in Harlem Heights will be staged on Saturday, July 13 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be hot dogs, ice cream and fun and games.

According to Sapio, an active recreation committee is meeting monthly in the city. For more information on the upcoming activities, visit https://oakhillwv.gov/ or https://www.facebook.com/p/Oak-Hill-Info-100064764034679/.

Meanwhile, work on city park improvements according to the city master plan has continued in recent months, although there was somewhat of a break in construction during the winter, Bragg noted. "The project's going to run a little later in the year this summer than we originally anticipated," he said. Park construction completion is expected by the end of July and "definitely before fall," Bragg said. And, work by the American Ramp Company on the new skate park is expected to begin this spring and will require about two months for completion. "We're hoping for mid- to late-summer," Bragg said.

In recent months, city crews removed rail track around the park area, and they have also performed some excavation on Park Drive to create more parking in the area, he said.

----The inception and construction of Needleseye Park involved "a lot of key players, a lot of stakeholders involved," Bragg said.

In late 2016, Berwind Land Company owned the property, and some interest arose for Oak Hill to possibly acquire the property and turn it into a municipal park.

The West Virginia Land Trust became involved and applied to the West Virginia Outdoor Heritage Conservation Fund for money to purchase the park on behalf of the city. A $602,000 sale occurred in early 2017, according to Bragg. The city and the WVLT contributed funding, but the bulk of the money came from the Outdoor Heritage Conservation Fund in the form of a grant to purchase the property from Berwind.

Between late 2017 and May 2019, a conservation easement for the property was drafted, according to Bragg. Then, the property was transferred to the city with that perpetual conservation easement in place. "It can never be sub-divided or developed, basically just keep it as a recreational space in perpetuity," Bragg said.

Among the early movers and shakers on the project were Bill Hannabass, Marvin Davis, Adam Hodges, Region 4 and "a whole group of people that did a lot of work to put in place a lot of plans," Bragg said.

Through the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority, congressionally directed spending was acquired via Sen. Joe Manchin in 2022 "to promote connectivity between the National Park Service and local recreational opportunities in Fayette County," Bragg said.

The NRGRDA, Region 4 Planning and Development Council, WVU Brad and Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative, Fayette Trail Coalition, Plateau Action Network, Fayette County Commission, Town of Fayetteville, City of Oak Hill, New River Bikes, West Virginia Land Trust and National Park Service have all been key collaborators as the park project coalesced over the years, Bragg stressed. "It's certainly been a great crew of people working on this."

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