10/17/2025
Story from October 9, 2025, issue of The Denison Free Press
Yellow Smoke Park Trail Fundraiser (on Saturday, October 18)
Get your walking shoes ready
By Dan Mundt
Kelsey Hipnar uses the trail at Yellow Smoke Park a lot – and she appreciates how nice it is.
Parts of the trail could use a little work – and she wants to help those who maintain it.
“I decided to do a fundraiser like the one they’ve done for about seven years in Panama called Bikeapalooza,” Hipnar said.
That event is a lot of fun for adults but isn’t designed for kids, she said.
“I’ve gone to it for a couple of years. I want to bring that idea back here and make it a little more child-friendly,” Hipnar said.
The Yellow Smoke Trail Fundraiser will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, October 18.
The event is for bikers, walkers and runners.
“It’s not really about speed or how fast you do the trail,” she said. “We’ll have a scavenger hunt, trivia questions, puzzles, temporary tattoos, lots of fun games. You’ll have two hours to complete as many of the activities as you can. Then we’ll all come back together to reveal who’s found the most items and add up the points.”
Four stations will be set up along the trail.
“You won’t be required to go to all the stations, but the more stations you get to and participate in, the better your chances are to score more points,” Hipnar said. “The bikers will be going in one direction and all the runners and walkers will go in the other direction.”
Some of the activities will be set up along the grass paths at the park.
“You’ll find some things on the grass paths if you go there, but if you’re a walker that just wants to stay on hard surfaces, then you’re going to find other things,” she said. “There’s a grass path that connects to the little pond to the north of Yellow Smoke (Lake), and there are quite a few timber trails west of the nature center.”
The paved trail covers four miles.
Individuals who don’t want to do all four miles may still participate.
“They would just walk out part of the way and then come back,” Hipnar said. “Or they could do one of our first stations right by the tented area.”
Information will be provided about the various trail options.
The event will be a good opportunity for people who haven’t used the trail system to learn more about it.
Hipnar said some of the proceeds will go toward better permanent signage that shows details of the trail system and the distances for the various loops.
“It will show an overview to help people explore the different trails, different surfaces, grass or non-paved surfaces,” she said. “We don’t seem to have that anywhere on the trail now.”
The funds will also go toward trail repairs and, she hopes, future expansions of the trail system.
Registration for the Yellow Smoke Park Trail Fundraiser will take place at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 18.
Participants will meet at the park beach.
“You’ll get an overall map of all the different stations, and how far and roughly how long it takes, so you can be back at the beach in two hours,” Hipnar said. “You’ll have a separate piece of paper with the list of scavenger hunt items to find – which is what you will turn in at the end.”
The entry fees are $25 for individuals and $40 for families.
“We have a family discount in there – it’s the same price no matter how many kiddos you have,” she said.
Prizes will be awarded at a closing ceremony.
The prizes will be based on the accumulated points from the scavenger hunt, trivia, puzzles, and games.
