Partners with the Prairie Corridor on Haines Branch project, Thursday, dedicated the Stiefel/Johnson Trailhead at 5217 SW 84th Street.

The trailhead is the first of several new parking areas that will provide access to the future trail along the Prairie Corridor, a 10-mile-long tallgrass prairie passage and trail that will connect the Pioneers Park Nature Center with Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center south of Denton.

The new trailhead between W. Pioneers Blvd and W. Old Cheney Road is positioned at a key location downstream from Conestoga Lake State Recreation Center, where Holmes Creek drains into the Haines Branch stream.  It will accommodate horses in anticipation of a future equestrian trail that will parallel the Corridor’s pedestrian and bicycle trail.

Tim and Judy Stiefel donated the 13-acre parcel to the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District (LPSNRD) for the project.  It is named for the Stiefels and in memory of their long-time friend, the late Lucile Johnson, who previously owned the land.

Larry Ruth, Chair of the LPSNRD Board of Directors, presented the Stiefels with a commemorative plaque, “as a symbol of our appreciation for your love of this land and for your generous donation of this property.”  He said the Trailhead “will be a key access point to invite people to get outside, be active and experience the prairie up close.”

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