West Minnesota Swift County Improves Appleton OHV Parks, Swift Falls – West Central Tribune

BENSON

— Aiming to attract more visitors and provide more recreation for residents, Swift County is moving forward with improvements to its two county parks, the Appleton Area Off-Road Vehicle Park and the Swift Falls County Park.

Park plans were drawn up in

Swift County

Board of Commissioners Oct. 15 by Cody Fossum and Devon Savage of the county’s Department of Parks, Drainage and Wetlands and Jillian Reiner of Widseth Engineering.

The Appleton Area OHV Park is expected to see the most improvements thanks to a $1.03 million grant from the America’s Rescue Plan.

Among the improvements are equipped parking lots, washrooms and restrooms for all-terrain vehicles.

Plans also include a beach and picnic area at the park’s small lake, Reiner said. Access to the swimming and fishing area will be via a walkway from the main parking area. The path will meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The beach will be 200 feet long and 50 feet wide, she told commissioners. A concrete path leads to the fishing pier on the south side of the lake.

The lake was Appleton’s original swimming destination before the park was flooded in 1997, according to Commissioner Gary Hendricks of

Appleton.

348 acre park

offers 20 miles of trails. This is one of the few parks that has trails for all four classes of off-road vehicles.

The park attracts visitors from all over the state and beyond, but it is currently impossible to estimate how many users it receives. Admission is free.

According to Fossum, it’s a busy park. Swift County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Mike Hoffman agreed. According to him, he receives visitors all week, and is especially busy on weekends.

The total cost of the park’s planned improvements is $1.25 million, Reiner said. Under current estimates, the county would be responsible for providing $250,000 in improvements.

Plans and specifications for the improvements are currently under review by the Federal Economic Development Administration, the US Department of Commerce office responsible for administering the grant. Once approved, it will be possible to call for tenders with the expectation that the project will be awarded in the first quarter of next year.

Expansion of the park is planned. Fossum said purchase agreements have been made to expand the park by about 280 acres.

He and Savage worked with park users to determine what types of improvements were desirable to attract more people. Major events held at the park last summer drew large numbers of visitors to the parks and benefited the local economy, he noted.

Rainer described the park as unique among the state’s regional parks. She said the Greater Minnesota Parks and Trails Commission has encouraged the county to apply for additional funds for the improvements.

Discussions with a committee of Swift Falls residents and users of the Swift Falls County Park resulted in a number of suggestions for improvements

a quiet park on the Chippewa River in the community of Swift Falls.

Trail improvements, cattail and silt removal and the possibility of removing the Swift Falls dam are among the suggestions made at the first meeting, which drew about 30 people, Fossum said.

This year, the county reopened and improved the park’s trails thanks to the proposals. The railings on one bridge have been replaced, and similar work is planned to be completed on the other. In addition, a grant from Countryside Public Health made it possible to install a picnic table and create a viewing area overlooking the river on the park trail.

Bathrooms were renovated with textured flooring, anti-graffiti paint and LED lighting completed.

Both park users and Swift Falls residents would like to see the sediment-clogged upper portion of the pool cleaned out, Fossum said. According to him, dredging will only provide a short-term solution to the problem and will be extremely expensive.

A more viable option being considered is the removal of the 15-foot high levee. A concrete dam was constructed in 1967 to replace the original dam used for the on-site mill.

According to Fossum, there is a good opportunity to get funding from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to remove the levee. A series of rock screws will replace the dam. The drop and river continuity that dam removal will provide will improve fishing at this location.

There is no consensus yet on whether or not to remove the dam, Fossum told commissioners.

There is a lot of interest in Wi-Fi for Internet access in the park, he said.

Commissioner Eric Rudingen said the meeting with residents and park users made it clear that the community is extremely proud of the park.

The park is used more and more by both tourists and day visitors. Its 32 campgrounds were full nearly every weekend during the summer, with 645 different groups registered, according to the county.