Local walking trail amenable to patrons with special needs

By Jimmy Potts Editor editor@mycameronnews.com

Work continues on multiple outdoor trails at the Cameron Reservoir, serving the physical needs of all its visitors.

While the city officials continue blazing the Eagle Lake Primitive Trail, the ADA Trail - which serves as main artery for access to all the Cameron Reservoir’s amenitiescontinues inching closer to completion.

Due to a brutally cold winter, city workers experienced slight delays to the project.

“We started removing the brush. We’re not quite halfway due to the weather, and things like that. That process has slowed down quite a bit, but we’re continuing as long as we can get out there,” Cameron Parks Maintenance Coordinator Neil Cooper said.

Funding for much previous and current trail extension comes from Missouri Lake and Wildlife Conservation Foundation grants. As the primary pathway, ranked by “All Trails” as one of the area’s most wheelchair accessible walking paths, beginning at the McElwain Drive parking lot. Looping around Sunrise Lake, the trail provides multiple locations for picnicking, birdwatching and bodyweight workout stations constructed by local Boy Scouts troops.

The ADA Trail ends at the ADA fishing dock, coined the crown jewell of the Cameron Reservoir by former Public Works Director Drew Bontrager, and constructed with donations from the Cameron Rotary Club, which recently celebrated its 100th year of operation.

For the more ambitious, Cameron hopes to soon open the Eagle Lake Primitive Trail.

Spanning much of the length of Eagle Lake, construction of the Eagle Lake Trail began last year, following a conversation between Cameron Park Board President Matt Arndt and then Cameron Mayor Dennis Clark. Using a gravel road leading to a pump house as a reference point, Arndt slowly carved a path around Eagle Lake. Following a discussion at the Cameron City Council’s recent retreat in Excelsior Springs, seeking to create more tourism around the Cameron Reservoir, a push began to open the trail this summer. Ever the consummate perfectionist, Arndt said opening the trail may take longer then expected as they continue added footbridges, removing dangerous fauna and other safety concerns.

“I’ve been working on this for a year and a half, and have a good start to a trail. The bridges, there are multiple places that I would like to see footbridges out there. The ones that, to me, are dangerous that are out there are the spillways at both ends of the lake,” Arndt said.