Hikers enjoy a walk in the GE woods as part of National Trails Day event

A National Trails Day hike brought close to 75 people to the Bob and Peggy Moore Trail at the GE Trails at Garrard Park before the thermometer got into the upper 80s.

About a third of the people who turned out for the event said it was the first time they had been been on the trails, which opened in February 2017.

Julie Smith, executive director of TRED — the local trails advocacy group sponsoring the guided hike — said she was really pleased with the crowd.

“I didn’t really know what to expect,” Smith said. “I walked the trail with a group that had never been out here and a lady said it had been years since she walked in the woods.”

Candice Reeves won a hydration backpack as one of the door prizes. She said she had ridden by the park many times but the walk Saturday was her first time on the trails.

“I loved it,” Reeves said. “I’ve been to Ridge Ferry Park and walked through the neighborhood but this is special, being out in nature.”

Harry Brock said he felt like the turnout showed good support for the community’s effort to expand the network of trails. He said he passes by the GE Trails a lot and that since the coronavirus pandemic started, use of the trails in West Rome had really picked up.

“This is a very popular spot for people with dogs,” Brock said. “You get a lot people out here from Garden Lakes. They walk the lake, but there’s no shade and it’s just so hot, so those folks can come over here and walk in the shade. It gives people some options.”

Floyd County Commissioner Allison Watters, who made the hike with her daughter Grace, said that connecting the trails in Rome is one of the goals for the commission.

“Connectivity is so important and the trails are not just quality of life,” Watters said. “People use them for transportation to and from a job, some of the resources they need.”

She said the dream for many in the community is still to tie in to the Silver Comet Trail, which extends from the Smyrna area to the Alabama state line after passing through Rockmart and Cedartown.

“I’m just glad to see so many people out here,” Watters said.

Cody Platt, who oversees the old GE plant on Redmond Circle, was out Saturday with his wife and kids, who walked their two long-haired chihuahuas. He said he believes the trails, on a 60-acre parcel just east of the plant, are getting more and more use.

“You see as many people out here with their kids and dogs walking as anything,” Platt said.