VALDOSTA – The Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority announces the closure of all trails at Langdale Park.

Release:

All trails at Langdale Park are closed. We do plan to open them again at some point, but hundreds of trees fell during Hurricane Idalia and every trail suffered significant damage.

Many of the downed trees will require heavy equipment for removal.  It has been and continues to be too wet to take the necessary equipment into the trails. The equipment would bog down, causing further damage.

Many of you have firsthand knowledge: hurricane recovery takes a long time.  Most of our parks were damaged in some way and we spent the first few months after the storm getting trees out of playground areas and ball fields.  By the time we moved on from those tasks, we were in the rainy season.  That creates a hurdle, as Langdale Park is a flood plain with a lot of low, boggy areas. It takes several consecutive weeks without rain for the ground there to dry out.

We are clearing what we can, as we can, and will update you when the trails are useable again.  We are also working on new trail maps and signage which we hope to have ready when the trails reopen.

In the meantime, the boat ramp and picnic areas are still open.  We simply ask that you do not enter the trails.  Thanks for understanding.