Updated trail network proposed for Blue Mound State Park
http://dnr.wi.gov/news/releases/article/?id=3777
Public hearing for trail network amendment to master plan Dec. 1
MOUNT HOREB, Wis. - A draft amendment for an updated trail network within Blue Mound State Park is now available for public review and comment and will be the subject of an upcoming public hearing.
The draft amendment updates the property trail network plan for a number of summer and winter trail uses. This trail network plan recommends a number of changes to improve property access, trail sustainability and the user experience, including the establishment of a trail connection to the village of Blue Mounds, winter bike trails and reestablishing a snowmobile trail and route for regional connections.
The state Natural Resources Board authorized a review of the park's master plan in December 2014 following a request from state and local advocates for snowmobiling that the Department of Natural Resources re-open a snowmobile trail in the Pleasure Valley area of the park that was abandoned in the early 1980s when a neighboring property was closed to snowmobiling, making the trail through Blue Mounds a dead end.
A presentation and public hearing on the trail network draft amendment will be held Tuesday, December 1 at the Mount Horeb High School, 305 S. 8th St., Mount Horeb. The plan exhibits, figures and supporting materials will be available for review starting at 5 p.m. with a short presentation summarizing the draft amendment at 5:45 p.m. After the presentation the public hearing will run from 6 to 8 p.m.
People may provide comments on the draft plan concepts during the public hearing as well as online or by U.S. mail. The comment deadline is Dec. 16, 2015.
Blue Mound State Park located in Iowa and Dane counties, consists of 1,159 acres of state park lands that includes outstanding vistas of the surrounding landscape while offering camping, hiking, mountain biking, picnicking and a swimming pool complex. For more information on the park, search the DNR website, dnr.wi.gov, for keywords "Blue Mounds."
The draft amendment and supporting documents are available by searching the Wisconsin DNR website for keywords "master planning" and then clicking on the link for the Blue Mound State Park.