21st Century Parks is scheduled to open the third of four parks next week. The quartet will eventually make up the Parklands of Floyds Fork — a donor-supported public park system near I-265 in eastern Jefferson County.
Turkey Run Park will officially open to the public on Friday, Oct. 16. It’s 800 acres of hills, forests, meadows and ponds. There are paved and unpaved trails for walking, biking and mountain biking, as well as fishing spots, an old silo repurposed as a lookout and picnic areas.
Parklands director Scott Martin said Turkey Run is different from the sports fields, playgrounds and more urban feel of Beckley Creek and Pope Lick Parks.
“The 800 acres of Turkey Run Park will become, we hope, Louisville’s quiet park,” he said. “And it’s the quiet park of the Parklands system. Its focus is on the forests, the glades, the meadows, the trails and the different ways you can encounter those quiet, special spaces that are authentically Kentucky, authentically Bluegrass, all 12 months of the year.”
Every aspect of the park has been meticulously planned to take advantage of the natural area, Martin said.
“A lot of design thought has gone into these parks. The take has all been to accentuate the natural landscape that’s here,” he said. “When visitors get here, they’re going to be surprised with the rolling topography — this is a much hillier, it almost feels Blue Ridge Mountain-esque, spot. And we didn’t want to take away from that, we wanted to build on it.”
The final park — Broad Run Park — and the Strand — a trail that connects Pope Lick to Turkey Run — are scheduled to open next spring.
To get to the Seaton Valley Trailhead of Turkey Run Park, follow these directions:
I-64 East to the Gene Snyder South on Gene Snyder to Billtown Road (exit 19). Left on Belltown Road, which dead-ends into Seatonville Road. Left on Seatonville Road. Drive a mile or so, and the Turkey Run Park entrance will be on your right immediately after crossing over Floyds Fork. The trailhead is about ¼ mile up the road once you've entered Turkey Run Park.
