Alabama's Cheaha Trail Riders creating riding opportunities

One day several years ago, Danny Hubbard was riding his ATV along the perimeter of the former Coosa River Ammunition Storage Annex just north of Talladega, Ala. He looked over the 2,800 acres and thought it would be a great place for an off-highway vehicle (OHV) park.

Now, with the help of his club, the Cheaha Trail Riders (CheahaTrailRiders.com), his dream is coming true.

“Over the years, the idea went from an OHV park to a multiuse park,” Hubbard says. “We’ve designed a park with a multitude of uses [including] a firing range, trap and skeet range, OHV trail system, equestrian trails, campsites and much more.

“We decided on multiuse with the idea of impacting the local economy,” he says. “We estimate the park will bring in $20 to $25 million annually once it’s matured. It’s a 10- to 15-year plan.”

Located about four miles northeast of the downtown area of the city of Talladega in north-central Alabama, the facility is in a perfect location to attract OHV riders and others who want to enjoy the park.

While there is already OHV riding going on at the park, which is called the TOP Trails—Talladega (Lincoln) Outdoor Park—Hubbard doesn’t expect an official opening until next fall. But he expected the Public Park Authority that oversees the facility to start charging $5 a head for riders by the end of 2011.

“Right now we have about 55 miles of ATV trail and 11 miles of single-track,” says Cheaha Trail Riders President Glenn Myers, who is responsible for designing the trails. “The goal is to have about 100 miles of ATV trails and 40 or 50 miles of single-track in a hilly part of the park property.”

Plans also call for 50 to 60 miles of horse trails, separated from the OHVs by a fence.

The Army stopped storing munitions at the Coosa River Ammunition Storage Annex in 1982, and the facility closed in 1988. Eventually it came under the control of the U.S. National Park Service, which awarded the property to the city of Lincoln for park use while maintaining ultimate control.

Lincoln joined forces with Talladega city, after much haggling over the use of the land, to have joint ownership of the land and formed the Public Park Authority to oversee the park’s development.

Now, the Park Board is acting aggressively—approving contracts for such things as trail work and security—to keep the project moving.

“It’s in the first year,” says Hubbard, who is the grant administrator for the project and also a member of the Cheaha Trail Riders. “We’ve been able to acquire a million dollars in grants for the first year [through the federal Recreational Trails Program, the state land board and conservation funding].

“They [the Park Board] will cut enough timber to sell to get $300,000 or $400,000,” Hubbard says. “Most of that $1.4 million [total] has to be used for OHVs.”

Plans call for ATV and motorcycle trails, OHV washing racks, a training center, training track and campsites, and eventually a national-caliber motocross facility.