TOPEKA — The Flint Hills Nature Trail has received the Governor’s Tourism Award. The award was a surprise, said Doug Walker, president of the Kanza Rail Trails Conservancy, which is developing the Flint Hills Trail. When it’s completed, the trail, between Herington and Osawatomie on the right-of-way of the Missouri Pacific Railroad’s Colorado Eagle Line, would be the longest trail in Kansas and seventh longest rail-trail in America, he said. In the past 10 years, over $800,000 in private funding was raised to support over 60 miles of trail that has been constructed and opened entirely by volunteers, he said. There are still gaps in the trail and more volunteers are needed to open and maintain where the gaps are, especially on either side of Ottawa, he said. “It’s the most diverse trail you’ll find,” Walker said. On the east side, the trail follows the Marais des Cygnes River and its wooded areas and emerges into the wide open spaces of the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie on the west side, he said. For information on volunteering, check the group’s Web site at www.kanzatrails.org.
Monday, Nov. 12, 1 p.m.