Local News
OHV park opening Saturday
By Patrick McCreless
STAFF WRITER
After months of delays, Cullman County’s all-terrain vehicle park will open this weekend.
“I’m very pleased we finally reached that point,” said Cullman County Commission Chairman James Graves.
The Stony Lonesome Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Park will be open to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Afterward, the park will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It’s located off Highway 69 near Bremen.
“We’ll let the weather warm up a little before we go full steam and open all week,” said John Sellers, director of the OHV Park.
The OHV Park, a $2 million project that spans 1,465 acres, features 35 miles of trails for all-terrain vehicles such as four-wheelers as well as trails for bikes and horseback riding.
Ticket prices will be $15 per Jeep, dirt bike and four-wheeler drivers; $10 per horse riders, $5 per mountain bike riders and $3 for hikers.
Sellers said the construction of a turn lane off of Alabama Highway 69 to the main entrance of the park was what was holding back the opening the last few weeks.
“We’ve got it (turn lane) done on our side of the road ... got it to where we can use that section of it to get people in and out of the park safely,” Sellers said.
The Alabama Department of Transportation requested the turning lane in October for safety reasons. The department agreed in November to cover the turn lane’s $100,000 construction cost.
The request forced officials to delay the park’s opening several times since its original scheduled opening in October.
Intense rainfall throughout December delayed the park’s rescheduled opening in December by hampering construction work on the turn lane as well as the facility’s main parking lot.
More heavy rainfall in January flooded parts of the county, including the OHV Park. Several of the park’s trails were washed away as a result, which forced construction crews to create new ones.
“We’ve worked on the trails for quite some time and now we just need to get some riders in there,” Sellers said.
To Graves, the park will be a benefit to the local economy.
“I anticipate businesses will spring up nearby,” Graves said.
He said those who come to ride at the park will need fuel and food and even places to wash their vehicles once they are done.
“And that will create more jobs,” he said.
For more information about the OHV Park, call 287-1133 or go to the park’s web site at www.stonylonesomeohv.us.
‰ Patrick McCreless can be reached by e-mail at patrickm@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131 ext. 270.
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