The Dawkins Line Rail Trail is an

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

and Magoffin Counties in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. The multi-use trail, suitable for

biking Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults o ...

, and horseback riding, occupies an abandoned rail corridor that was constructed in the early 20th century for the Dawkins Lumber Company.Gov. Beshear and First Lady Open Dawkins Line Rail Trail
Governor Steve Beshear's Communications Office. Retrieved 2013-06-20. It is the longest rail trail in Kentucky.

History

The name of the trail was derived from the Dawkins Lumber Company, which incorporated the Big Sandy and Kentucky River Railroad (BS&K) to construct the railroad in 1912. This rail corridor was developed as means of transportation for company employees and for the extraction of timber from remote areas. After the stock market crash of 1929, the BS&K was dissolved and the

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond t ...

(C&O) acquired the railroad's stock on September 22, 1930.History of the Dawkins Line Rail Trail
Kentucky Department of Parks. Retrieved 2013-06-20. After the construction of a tunnel at Carver in 1949, the rail corridor was further expanded into Breathitt County. The rail line

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

was owned by CSX in 2002 when it was purchased by the

R.J. Corman Railroad Group R. J. Corman Railroad Group, LLC is a privately owned railroad services and short line operating company headquartered in Nicholasville, KY, with field locations in 22 states. It was owned by Richard J. Corman, who established the company in ...

. R.J. Corman decided to abandon the 36 mile rail line in November 2004. In 2006, the Kentucky General Assembly provided the initial funds necessary to convert the abandoned right-of-way into a rail trail. In 2011, the right-of-way was purchased from R.J. Corman and the project began to move forward. The Kentucky State Parks received a multi-county coal severance grant of $500,000 to help support the development of the trail. The

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is Kentucky's state-funded agency charged with building and maintaining federal highways and Kentucky state highways, as well as regulating other transportation related issues. The Transportation Cabi ...

provided the Department of Parks with $2 million in transportation program funding for the first phase, as well as approximately $285,000 in Transportation Enhancement funding for trailheads. After the construction of Phase One of the rail trail was completed, the park opened to the public on June 15, 2013.Dawkins Line Rail Trail
Kentucky Department of Parks. Retrieved on 2013-06-20. When Phase Two of the project is constructed, the trail will extend to Evanston in

Breathitt County Breathitt County ( ) is a county in the eastern Appalachian portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 13,718. Its county seat is Jackson. The county was formed in 1839 and was named for John B ...

. When completed, the Dawkins Line Rail Trail will be a total of 36-miles (57.9 km) long. Future work (4th QTR 2014 or later) involves restoring abandoned railbed from Royalton southwest to near the tunnel at the Magoffin and Breathitt County line.Transportation Enhancement projects with Mods and Amendments.
Spreadsheet dated 2014-08-27. Retrieved 2014-09-03.

References

External links

Kentucky State Parks Brochure: Dawkins Line Rail Trail (pdf)Dawkins Line Rail Trail Official Map---new version (pdf)Dawkins Line Rail Trail Official Map---old version (pdf)Dawkins Line Rail Trail Opening Announcement Presentation (pdf, 8MB)Stage 1 Construction Presentation (pdf, 12MB) from Commonwealth of KentuckyDawkins Line Rail Trail page at Kentucky State Parks websiteKentucky Transportation Cabinet (documents containing "Dawkins")Rail Abandonment Environmental Assessment Decision (contains poor map on last page of pdf)Abandoned: History of Dawkins Subdivision of C&O RailroadDawkins Line Rail Trail Feasibility Study (pdf, 9MB), from Summit Engineering for Big Sandy Area Development District and Big Lovely Mountain Trail Authority
{{authority control Rail trails in Kentucky 2013 establishments in Kentucky Protected areas of Johnson County, Kentucky Protected areas of Magoffin County, Kentucky Protected areas established in 2013 State parks of Kentucky Transportation in Johnson County, Kentucky Transportation in Magoffin County, Kentucky

History

See also

References

External links