County pursues plan to connect the valley

ALas Vegas cab driver once said the dumbest question ever posed by a tourist was whether the barren mountains surrounding the valley were real.

Among visitors they may not rank up there with the rain forest that shrouds the Mirage grounds or the vast aqua-blue lake that laps at the Bellagio. But to locals, the mountains are the featured attraction.

They also play a significant role in Clark County's new trails program that is expected to not only provide more access to the mountains, but offer commute routes for bicyclists.

"Not everybody wants to go to Lake Mead and not everybody wants to go to parks," said the county's new trails planner, Kristine Bunnell. "A lot of people want to get out and hopefully be alone and hike or bike and enjoy the surrounding area. Those opportunities need to be there for them."

County officials for years have discussed implementing an aggressive program to develop an interconnected trail system across the valley. Last summer the commission proved its dedication by freeing up money to hire Bunnell.

The 10-year plan that Bunnell and county planners have developed hardly lacks ambition. It includes 300 miles of new trails in addition to the 491 miles of bike lanes planned by the Regional Transportation Coalition.

The county has already secured three grants from TEA-21 -- the federal government's Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century. Through TEA-21, $230 million collected from off-road federal gas taxes will be distributed nationwide.

Finding money for the program is no easy task, but it's not the only obstacle that stands in Bunnell's way.

When development raced across the valley floor, county planners lacked the foresight to preserve property for a trail system. Now trail planners are snatching up utility easements and scouring property that abuts drainage ditches for future pathways.

"It's just like everything else I believe that goes with growth," Bunnell said. "We're behind and so we're trying to catch up. I don't know if we ever will, but we'll make a pretty good effort."

The county and the valley's three cities are combining efforts and have formed the Southern Nevada Trails Partnership, which meets monthly. The organization's goal is to create a trails system that would allow, for example, a Summerlin bicyclist to make it all the way to Lake Mead on paths.

Members of the partnership include a variety of recreationalists ranging from hikers and bicyclists to equestrians and four-wheel drivers.

"What the group is trying to do is look at several different elements of the trails program," Bunnell said. "There's different user groups and they're looking at trail opportunities in both urban and rural areas."

Blake Monk, a board member with the Nevada United Four-Wheelers Association, said it is unusual for off-road enthusiasts to be invited to participate in such programs.

His involvement gives him the opportunity to disprove the perception common among other trail users -- that four-wheelers carelessly tear through the desert terrain with no regard for the environment.

"We go out with jeeps and pickups and four-wheel on old designated trails and old roads," said Monk, who noted that many of his group's members are disabled and can't explore via bicycle or horseback. "We basically see the scenery that other people can't see."

Monk said four-wheel drive groups aren't seeking new trails, they simply want the county to keep the existing roads and paths open.

The county's aggressive program has caught the attention of trails groups nationwide because of the wide variety of interests involved and because of the number of miles planned.

Pat Gluck, executive director of American Trails in Prescott, Ariz., calls the 1990s the "Decade for Trails" primarily because of the federal funds that became available for trails developments.

Many communities have created trails over the last several years, but the county's program is particularly progressive, Gluck said.

"It's phenomenal foresight on their part in trying to meet the needs of their community," she said. "If they plan for trails like they do road systems, they won't have a problem where they have to go back and buy land and easements."

Gluck said it's important for communities to provide alternative transportation options to its residents. But more important, trails offer a healthy source of entertainment to the community.

"It provides families an opportunity get out and be with each other," Gluck said. "Trails help feed the soul. They're pathways that help us get back in touch with what's real."

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