Last month we brought you a story about Dallas’ dynamic trail system, an exciting new component of which is the Santa Fe Trail here in East Dallas. Last week I got to sit down with members of Friends of the Santa Fe Trail and hear about some of their plans for the pathway.

Ultimately, it will serve as a "linear museum, an ever-evolving garden, and more, all bringing together Dallas’ magnificent White Rock Lake and culturally inspiring Deep Ellum and Fair Park neighborhoods": That’s how they put it in their eloquently worded brochure, anyway.

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Why do we need “friends” groups? The city has funded and started work on the Santa Fe Trail, but that only takes care of the basics. Think Katy Trail: All those nice extra things such as fountains and benches and nice, safe crosswalks (not to mention the cool web site, videos and brochures) wouldn’t be there without funding from Friends of the Katy Trail.

From what I observed, Friends of the Santa Fe has a strong group of knowledgeable, experienced volunteers in place and is well on its way to being a similarly stellar supporting entity. The first fundraising priority is to finance the design of a master plan. The group hopes to have some sort of groundbreaking ceremony in the upcoming months — this is an exciting opportunity for all you cyclists, runners and walkers, so think about getting involved from the start. The fundraising committee members (including neighbors Monty Watson, Jeremy Gregg, Susan Justus, Bud and Annie Melton, Brian Mier, David McQuaid and sorry if I forgot anyone) promise to keep us posted here at Back Talk.

More about Santa Fe Trail, here.      
More on Dallas Trails, here.