Parks board agrees on Kessler Mountain trail names

UDPATE: The name “Sharp’s Ridge” will soon change. It turns out the name “Sharp” is reserved for a future trail, so a new name is in order. The board in February discussed several options, including Shale Trail, Rock Town, Barren Ridge, Rocky Ridge and Ken’s Dilemma (in reference to the difficulty that city park planner Ken Eastin has had in getting this trail name finalized). Ultimately, the group voted in favor of Ken’s Dilemma, but the city’s cooperative 911 Naming Committee denied the request. It’s back to the drawing board for now. The board meets again in March.

The new soft surface trails at Kessler Mountain now have names.

Members of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board last month finalized a proposed list of names for the new trails that were completed over the summer.

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Several factors were in play in the naming of the trails, including cooperation with the city’s GIS department, which must first approve the names of all streets and trails inside city limits. The department is responsible for creating mapping tools that assist rescue crews in locating residents during emergencies. GIS staff prefer to have names that are easy to pronounce to lower the chances of confusion while crews respond to residents who are in need of emergency help while on the trails.

One proposed trail name was “Chinquapin,” but that was changed to “Chinkapin” – another acceptable spelling of the word – to make it easier to read on trail markers. The name was eventually changed to “Chinkapin Oak” in reference to the Chinkapin Oak trees found on the southern parts of the mountain.

Other new names include Terrapin Station, Last Call and Sharp’s Ridge, named in honor of longtime Kessler advocate Frank Sharp. Note: Sharp’s Ridge will soon be changed. See the update at the top of this story.

We recently took our camera out and came back with a handful of photos showing what it’s like on the Kessler Mountain trail system. For reference, the map below shows the route we took.