Township, development and county officials gathered for the Spring Creek Nature Trail groundbreaking. Woodlands Township, Woodlands Development Company and county officials gathered Friday for the Spring Creek Nature Trail groundbreaking.[/caption] Officials with The Woodlands Development Company, The Woodlands Township and the Bayou Land Conservancy gathered Friday to break ground on the new Spring Creek Nature Trail in the George Mitchell Nature Preserve in the Village of Creekside Park. Tim Welbes, co-president of the Development Company, said the trail will be a place of tranquility when completed in 2018. This is the preserve's fourth trailhead and the nature trail. "Stop and listen," Welbes said. "All of [this] handwork results in a moment where you can leave cell phones off, walk a few hundred feet and you’re in stone silence. It's pretty magical with the digital world we live in. That’s what this facility is all about—to unplug and recharge." Suzanne Simpson, land stewardship director with the Bayou Land Conservancy, said the project was kickstarted back in 2014.
"That’s what this facility is all about—to unplug and recharge." —Tim Welbes, co-president, The Woodlands Development Company

"Texas Parks and Wildlife funded a $100,000 grant to the Greater Houston Off-Road Biking Association since they saw a need for more natural surface trails to get people out in this beautiful place," Simpson said. "The execution and administration of the grant was transferred to the Bayou Land Conservancy in 2014 and, before we could get construction started, we had to do a historical and archeological study of the area. So we had to put the trail on the ground and flag it during the summer months of 2015 and 2016."

Simpson said the new trail will be in both Harris and Montgomery counties, and the end goal is to keep protecting the Spring Creek Greenway.

"This is a really special place that we want to make sure it’s protected forever," she said. "So this trail construction is going to begin in Harris County and it’ll move over to Montgomery [County] and we look forward to working with all our partners. We’re gonna get the trail on the ground by 2018. That’s our goal, and we’re sticking to it."