Sweet Trails Alabama is a collaborative initiative to create Alabama's first statewide trails plan through efforts at the state, regional and local levels. A public draft of the Sweet Trails Alabama (Statewide Trails) plan was recently released. The plan, which is expected to be completed this summer, will identify a network of trails across much of the state that can be used for a variety of uses, including hiking, biking, horseback riding, off-roading and paddling.

“The Sweet Trails Alabama team is proud to share the public draft of our Sweet Trails Alabama (statewide trails) plan, and we thank the thousands of you who have participated in or followed this process,” Sweet Trails Alabama said.

The public draft plan takes into account numerous input and requests from across the state. Building on the progress of Alabama's Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, this comprehensive plan reflects the goals of leaders, trail users and Alabamians.

Sweet Trails Alabama hopes that by releasing the draft plan to the public, it will be able to get input from residents across Alabama.

The public draft will be open to the public until July 16th. During this period, the Sweet Trails Alabama team invites all comments to be submitted for consideration. After July 16th, the Sweet Trails Alabama team will complete a final plan that responds to the feedback provided. The public will have access to the public draft. here.

Here are some of the key highlights of the plan:

• The Draft Trail Network connects all 67 Alabama counties, all national forests, 10 of Alabama's 11 national wildlife refuges, 128 state parks and Forever Wild Lands, and 341 municipalities.
• The Draft Trail Network represents over 7,800 miles of trails throughout our great state.
• The network would have a total of 6,312 miles of proposed trails, 708 miles of existing shared-use or nature trails, and 827 miles of gravel roads.
• The proposed trail network is diverse and includes greenways, gravel paths and natural surface trails, providing a variety of experiences for all trail users.
• Throughout the nine-month planning process, the project team collected 1,513 surveys, held 22 in-person meetings, and hosted 40 virtual sessions to hear from stakeholders.