News : Old Creamery Nature Trailhead Moving to 13th St.

Randy Scheel spoke with the local Vinton Kiwanis Club on Tuesday about Benton County Conservation. He introduced himself sharing a story about how he became involved.

It began when he decided to run on the Old Creamery Nature local trail in the Garrison area. He noticed that a tree was down blocking the trail/ Returned to the trail on his four wheeler and with his chain saw to take care of the problem, he met Nancy Baldwin who was also doing some work on the trail. "Hey, you can't do that!" she informed him. After a little discussion, she convinced Scheel that he should join the group that takes care of the trail. As they say, the rest is history. 

The trail is currently 14 miles long and is maintained by Benton County Conservation. It connects Vinton, Garrison and Dysart. 

There are plans to move the trailhead for the Old Creamery Nature Trail. Currently it begins on Highway 218 in Vinton next to Koop's and runs alongside the railroad tracks. Sometimes train cars block the trail as well as a series of gates that bikes have to be walked through. Moving the trail would eliminate these issues. The trail would move up to 13th St. past Kwik Star and just west of the FS plant. Benton County Conservation received a grant of $22,000 from the Guernsey Charitable Foundation in Waterloo, to cover the expenses of the improvements. The Anderson family will be helping the project by trading property along the railroad tracks to another section near 13th St. 

After meeting with Vinton leaders, there has been many ideas shared. The Vinton trail system already sports Nathan's Mile, the glow trail. There are several ideas out there about connecting the two trails somehow. There is also the Cedar Valley Nature Trail which has a small section in Benton County so there are ideas about finding ways to possibly connect with that toward Urbana. All ideas are still being worked out to find the best solution.

The DOT has informed the county that the trail would need to be handicap accessibility. Scheel said that the DOT has already poured concrete at what will be the old entrance to make it accessible, which will probably be moved once the trail head moves.

A federal recreational trails grant was received about 10 years ago to resurface the trail, and that has increased the trail. Dysart added a "fix-it" station which has also helped.

In Garrison they started a rest area two years ago along the trail with a fix-it station, water, benches, a pavilion and most recently they added some signage. The town collected a bit of the town's history to share. Going back as far as 1872 to when the train passed through and sharing a bit about the Garrison Creamery and the Old Creamery Theater which many of us enjoyed as children. 

Scheel shared with the listeners that bikers like to take the trails to new locations and then get off the trail to explore, avoiding the roads as much as they can. In the big picture, there are dreams of finding ways to link the trail to Urbana, or from Dysart to LaPorte City. 

Scheels believes that most of this new section will be completed in the fall with hopes that the DOT will approve one of the recreational area signs along the highway. 

If you would like to help the trail continue to thrive, there is currently, a 1-1 match in honor of Bob and Jane LaGrange (up to $4,000) to help with beautification projects on the Old Creamery Nature Trail!

If you are interested in donating, your donation is tax deductible!- Visit their website here: https://www.bentoncountyia.gov/conservation/donate/- You can also donate on PayPal by clicking here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/...- Or reach out to us!-Indicate OCNT on your donation memo. Follow the Facebook page by clicking HERE!
He shared a brief update on the Wildcat Bluff project. So far $840,000 of the $1.2M has been raised. There is a need to get the remaining amount raised. The county will be applying for a grant in August that they believe will help bring the amount closer to the final number.