New fitness trail planned for Lake Shawnee

TOPEKA (KSNT) - Shawnee County is moving forward with plans to create a new recreational trail.

At Monday's commission meeting, Shawnee County Parks and Recreation Director Tim Laurent requested approval to apply for a grant with the Kansas Department of Wildlife (KDWP) and Parks to help fund construction of a walking trail at Tinman Circle on the northeast side of Lake Shawnee.

A 10-foot-wide paved path would create a one-mile fitness loop. It would follow along the inside of the existing road and provide access points to features like Reynolds Lodge, the Topeka Area Rowing Association and the Lake Shawnee Disc Golf Course.

"If you walk out there now, you would see there's really a worn path through much of this because this is where people walk when they don't want to walk on the road," Laurent said. "We think it'd be a neat addition and are very confident that it would be widely used if we were able to make it happen."

The project is estimated to cost just over $725,000. The KDWP administers the Recreational Trails Program, which offers an 80/20 reimbursement grant. In this case, Shawnee County would be responsible for just over $145,000 of the project's cost. The state would reimburse the county the remaining 80%.

Commissioners Aaron Mays and Kevin Cook were in attendance. They approved the submission of the application in a 2-0 vote. If the funding and construction come together as planned, the project should be complete by 2027.

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