Keeping Up with Mother Nature
If it feels like there is a constant cloud hanging over Louisville, it’s because there is—or, at least there has been most days for the past 18 months.
Since January of 2018, the Louisville area has endured more than 100 inches of rain. That is more than three feet above our average annual rainfall. We pride ourselves on being open 365 days a year, come rain or shine, and Mother Nature is putting us to the test. This increase in precipitation has taken a toll on The Parklands, especially our trail system.
In 2018, The Parklands team cleaned up after nine flood events. Just halfway through 2019, we’ve already experienced 10. And that only accounts for instances when Floyds Fork flowed over its banks. The creek’s rain gauge is marking 36.14 inches of rain for the year—our annual average is 45 inches.
Trail Damage
While Mother Nature continues to wring inches upon inches of rain onto our already saturated landscape, visitors can expect to encounter more alerts, signs and barriers as we work to protect our trails.
Chinkapin Trail, an intermediate hike/bike option in Turkey Run Park, closed to the public on June 5 and will remain closed until further notice. Heavy rainfall combined with visitor use while the trail is muddy led to extensive damage. There have also been multiple occasions within the past month when our entire Turkey Run trail system has been closed to help prevent the same from happening to other paths.
Looking for the latest status update on our Turkey Run Park trails? Our friends at KYMBA Louisville have listed two of our areas in their Trail Status tool to help riders determine when they should/shouldn’t head to The Parklands for a ride. Members of The Parklands trail team update the feature when they are able. The tool includes a time stamp, so visitors can see when each park section was last updated.
Since KYMBA focuses on mountain biking trails, Turkey Run Park refers to Paw Paw, Hickory, and Chinkapin trails. Silo Center Bike Park refers to the trails and features within the gates of the neighboring bike park. More extensive closures will be noted under Alerts on The Parklands home page.
Silo Center Bike Park
Speaking of the bike park, wet weather has resulted in delays to opening the majority of our bike park features, including advanced trails, skills loop and pump tracks. The stretch of dry days needed to get work done eluded us this spring, but we are holding out hope for better luck now that summer is here. As of June 26, 2019, the only part of the bike park that is open is the green flow trail section—Flying Pig and Piglet.
More to Explore
While Turkey Run Park tends to get the most attention, there are miles of trails throughout all four parks that are recovering from monsoon-like weather, so we appreciate your patience when visiting. If you encounter an area that is closed or a trail that is muddy, please help us out by exploring another area or paved trail like the Louisville Loop. Eventually, the rain, rain will go away, and you can visit the trail another day.
Top 10 Wettest Years in Louisville
https://www.weather.gov/media/lmk/climate/clisdf/Top_Ten_Wettest_and_Driest_Years_Louisville.pdf
90% of Weekends Spoiled by Rain
About the Author
Anna Rosales-Crone
As Manager of Marketing and Communications, Anna Rosales-Crone manages internal and external communications strategies for The Parklands, as well as marketing to promote facility rentals, educational programming, fundraising and overall park awareness. Anna was hired as Communications Coordinator in May of 2015 to help build awareness of the newly constructed park by managing The Parklands brand, website and social media. Prior to joining The Parklands team, she worked in communications at the American Red Cross for five years where she grew the Louisville Area Chapter’s digital and social media presence while supporting public relations, marketing and special events. She also provided public affairs support and guidance during major disaster operations. Anna is a graduate of the University of Evansville where she met her husband and the second love of her life—traveling. She also enjoys hiking, reading, baking, dancing, going to concerts and hanging out with her two cats. Contact me about: media relations, photo requests and website.