A new trail is available for use at Clendening Park Dam off of State Route 800 in Tippecanoe.
The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District and Army Corp of Engineers recently cut the ribbon for the Quarry Trail.
Trails Coordinator Dylan Sayer says the first part features the Halderman Stone Quarry, which was a major business at one point for the Tippecanoe area but decommissioned in 1906.
“They shipped sandstone products all over the state and beyond. each quarry had their specialties. This one specifically specialized in foundation stone as well as millstones, they’re nine to 12 inches thick, [and] they’re stone wheel, four to five feet in diameter, and they were used to grind grain into flour.”
Sayer says the loop was hand built.
“This is a 1.3-mile natural surface hiking trail. It makes a full loop back. This site is pretty large and flat, and it’s surrounded by stone and what that does, when you walk in the quarry today it may feel a little cooler and there’s a lot of organic matter in the soil and it makes a great place for wildflowers.”
Chief of Recreation Pete Novotny notes trails connect communities and people, but it also brings in revenue.
“The outdoor recreation economy in Ohio outpaces the national average. About 2.3-percent of our money that we generate from the state comes from outdoor recreation. It’s sometimes easy to forget we’re the seventh most populated state in the country. Public lands out important and this is our commitment to enhancing these areas.”
The Quarry Trail is the first new addition to MWCD’s 20-year, $60 million master plan to add nearly 300 miles of natural and paved hiking and biking trails throughout the district.
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