 About 100 people were at Archer Park in Prestonsburg Saturday morning to celebrate the official grand opening of the city's new Prestonsburg Passage Trail. The trail is a little more than 8 miles on an old railroad bed. It begins in West Prestonsburg with a trailhead at Archer Park and passes through the Middle Creek National Battlefield on its way to the old coal camp of David. The trail is getting rave reviews from those who turned out Saturday. The real estate trails is going to be great for the community, it's a way for families to get out, exercise, spend a little time together and enjoy the beauty of the city. Trails like these, they help provide a link between people and their natural environment. Especially the flat paved trail, such as this one, can provide outdoor activity for everyone including those with mobility restrictions as well. It's going to bring people in here to spend money, help with their economic development and all these things go hand in hand. I hope that the Prestonsburg Passage serves as a path for our families to enjoy and as an avenue to connect our communities throughout eastern Kentucky and as a destination to attract people from across the state to Prestonsburg and Floyd County to show them all that we have to offer. Prestonsburg Mayor Les Stapleton says the trail is just one more piece in the city's toolkit. You know, one, it brings people in and we're trying to become a tourist destination. We have mountain bike trails that are second to none. I'll tell you right now, our mountain bike trails are the best in the state. So this gives other people an option to ride. It's flat. There's not a lot of incline, not a lot of declines. So matter of fact, there's only a hundred foot from here all the way to Kentucky, it's over nine miles. And he says there are already plans for expansion to the area's largest rail trail, the Dawkins Trail in Johnson and MacGuffin Counties. They're going to make sure you share the road signs on 404 over to seven and then down to Rolton. So you'll see those coming up pretty quick, at least it makes people aware of the bicyclists there. And we're really excited about it because that's going to make us a complete circuit at that point. Reporting in Prestonsburg, I'm Ralph Davis for Mountaintop News.