Here in the North Central Region’s hometown of Vinton, Maple 3 is serving with the Parks and Recreation Department through August 5 to develop new trails and recreation areas for residents.

Within just the first week of work the team has already built a new mountain biking trail linked to already existing trail networks. They have also trimmed, cleared and raked another mountain biking trail that was worked on July 30 by the department, volunteers and Maple 3 during a community service workday.

Through their service, Maple 3 members are providing new and much needed outdoor recreation areas to the Vinton community. With the already constructed trails and more to come, resident and visitor alike are enabled to live a more healthy, active lifestyle while also meeting social and emotional needs through a connection with nature.

“It’s been really rewarding to see the how quickly a project can be accomplished when you work together as a team. We finished a whole trail in one day!” said Maple 3 team member, Damali Archie. “While it’s been really hot out there, I have learned a lot about what goes into building and maintaining trails for recreation. I look forward to opening up more natural space for the community and visitors of Vinton.”

Future work the team is doing includes building bridges and boardwalks to open up wet and inaccessible trails to the public, posting signage for better navigation and cutting more new trails. The trails developed will be used for a variety of purposes including, walking, running, hiking, biking and cross country skiing. Maple 3’s service work on the trails will also provide access to river beach and primitive campground sites.