Summit County Metro Parks has officially opened its first mountain bike trail. Today’s ribbon-cutting marked the opening of the 3-mile Hampton Hills trail. Parks spokesman Nathan Eppink says the trail will not disturb the natural setting of the park because of the location’s past use.
“This surrounds the old landfill; it could not be developed in any way, so it’s a great fit for us. We come in and are allowed to provide public benefit, public good, a new activity and we’ve put in a parking lot at the trail and a kiosk. The disturbance has been minor, as far as Summit Metro Parks is concerned, because that land was already disrupted.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNwcjJ_9oyE
Eppink says the park system leased the land surrounding Akron’s Hardy Road Landfill in 2010. The $750,000 bike trail is open only to mountain bikes to prevent conflict with hikers. Eppink says the trails could expand to nearly 7 miles by the end of the year.
