Ribbon cutting for new mountain bike trail Thursday

A new trail is coming to Tannery Knobs Mountain Bike Park.The public is invited to preview the trail, Vol Holler, on Thursday as part of a ribbon cutting ceremony. The ceremony is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.Vol Holler will combine both hand-cut and machine-cut trail sections.The hand-cut portions "preserve the natural root systems and rock features," a press release from Johnson City said, "creating a narrower, more immersive experience for users."Community input played a major role in the trail's development. Park volunteers voiced their thoughts and ideas for a new trail and what they'd like to see.The trail took about a year-and-a-half to complete, according to Johnson City Parks & Recreation Trail Operations Manager Josh Collins.Collins, who stepped into the role of trails operation manager in March, said he was physically involved in building the trail."I was doing some hand-digging and thought, alright, I'm going to get a machine in here. Even with that (machine), though, there are sections … where we preserve the natural environment of it, where it's handbuilt, so it feels more natural and it's more narrow and more immersive," said Collins.Some of the trails at Tannery Knobs Mountain Park are multi-use and can be hiked. A majority of the people who use the park use it for mountain biking and some trails are exclusively for riding.People may not be aware that some of the trails are multi-use, said Collins, and by extension, some may be confused by the lack of details about the trails."We have a map that says, 'Okay, here is this trail. Here's this trail and here's this other one,' but people have expressed confusion about which trail they're on," said Collins."We're updating trail signage. We want the names (of the trails) on the trails, so people know which one they're on and whatnot, because these trails connect in areas. It's confusing for some folks," he said.Covering over 40 acres of wooded terrain, Tannery Knobs Mountain Bike Park is located at 18 Tannery Knob in Johnson City.