Traci Berry, race director of Raid the Rock Adventure Race in Central Arkansas, has been named trail coordinator for the Northwoods Trails in Hot Springs, Visit Hot Springs announced Monday.
Berry will begin her new job Nov. 1, said Bill Solleder, marketing director for Visit Hot Springs.
Raid the Rock Adventure Race includes both an eight-hour and a 24-hour course covering 60 to 100 miles of terrain and combining biking, paddling, and trekking or running with the ability to navigate with a compass and topographical map, Visit Hot Springs said in a news release.
Berry also volunteers with the Central Arkansas Trail Alliance and the National Interscholastic Cycling Association and was a zip-line canopy tour manager and guide at the Buffalo River Canopy Tour in Ponca, as well as the POSTOAK Canopy Tours in Tulsa.
"When we officially open Phase One of the Northwoods Trails system on Nov. 16, Hot Springs will become the hottest new destination in America for the increasing numbers of people who enjoy mountain biking both as a recreational activity and as a highly competitive sport," Steve Arrison, CEO of Visit Hot Springs, said in the release.
"Traci Berry will give us a direct liaison with both of these biking communities and help us maximize the beneficial impact that the Northwood system is certain to bring to the city."
Solleder said in the release that Berry's background and experience with outdoor activities and marketing "make her the perfect fit for helping Visit Hot Springs market and coordinate this astounding new addition to the extensive menu of attractions that make Hot Springs Arkansas's No. 1 tourism destination."
Berry is a health and physical education graduate of Henderson State University, where she was on the basketball team, and holds a master's degree in Education Administration from the University of Arkansas Little Rock. She is working toward an executive master's degree in Public Service at the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock.
She has been a teacher and coach at schools in Mayflower, Bentonville and Little Rock.
Visit Hot Springs partnered with Tom and Steuart Walton and the Walton Family Foundation on the 16-mile segment first phase of the trails project -- a planned 44.6-mile system of mountain biking trails on the city-owned Northwoods/Cedar Glades properties in the northern section of Hot Springs.
The first phase of the trail system will open Nov. 16 with a ribbon-cutting for city officials and staff, ambassadors with The Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce, and staff of the International Mountain Biking Association and local bike shops, followed by a "Slow Roll" on Park Avenue and Whittington Boulevard.
A public grand opening ceremony Nov. 17 will celebrate opening the first phase with a group ride at the Cedar Glades portion of the trails system.
The total cost of the first phase of the project is $1,299,975, with half the cost -- $648,421 -- funded through a matching grant from the Walton Family Foundation.
"Saturday is also the day of the Spa Running Festival in the morning, so our public ribbon-cutting that afternoon will extend the day's activities throughout the day," Solleder said in the release.
On Nov. 18, the annual Attila the Hun Bike Race will take place in portions of Cedar Glades Park.
Construction of phase one began in November 2017 and will provide Hot Springs with a new tourism attraction aimed at mountain bikers and other outdoor enthusiasts.
Phase two of the trail system will result in a 44.6-mile system of mountain biking trails in the city's forested property surrounded by three lakes located minutes from downtown Hot Springs.
Local on 10/23/2018