Pickett CCC State Park has reopened several trails after more than a year of cleaning up the aftermath of a May 2024 wind storm.
Park Manager Camron Martin said there were hundreds of trees knocked down by the storm. Martin said cleaning up the trails was a team effort, as both state contracted cleanup crews and park employees banded together to re-open the paths. Martin said rangers and maintenance staff are doing things like chainsaw work to clear the trails.
“Some of the trails are decimated to the point to where we have to do trail reroutes around certain portions of the trails,” Martin said. “So, we’re trying to identify the best path to take the trails around. We’re trying to keep in mind pertinacious species we may not disturb, so there’s some things that go into that as far as planning.”
Martin said the mile-long Natural Bridge trail is still closed, but the sandstone rock formation can still be accessed via Highway 154. Martin said popular trails like Pogue Creek Canyon, Hazzard Cave have been re-opened recently.
Martin said the Natural Bridge trail is still closed because it was impacted the most by the storm last year. He said there are still hundreds if not thousands of trees down on that trail.
“That’s our main area of focus right now to accomplish is getting that trail opened back up,” Martin said. “We don’t have a timeline on it yet, but we are exploring some grant opportunities. So hopefully, if we get some grant opportunities, we can speed the process up.”
Martin said one of the challenges with the trail clean up was seeing the impact on the environment. After the storm, Martin said there were many squires and birds displaced from the down trees. Martin said the park has also had to monitor the area for invasive plant species, which can grow after events like a major storm.
Although most trails are now open again, Martin said hikers should still be careful while they are in the park.
“We just want guests to be mindful because some of the trees that we may not be aware of could be weak still from the storm,” Martin said. “Their root systems could be compromised, so we just ask folks even with the trails open to just be mindful.”
Martin said people should look up when hiking to help protect themselves from potential hidden dangers.
