ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — When asphalt goes down on the Cotton Bayou branch of the Branyon Backcountry Trail, it will be 95 percent complete from the original plan.

But that doesn’t mean there could future developments. Those dream trails to make it complete rest in the mind of Phillip West, Coastal Resources director for the city of Orange Beach.

“We have bigger dreams other than the original,” West says with a sheepish grin.

“This probably completes 95 percent of the paving for this project.”

The final piece of the original puzzle would be a north/south trail from Gulf Oak Ridge Trail to Rosemary Dunes trail.

“We want to make a north/south connection from Gulf Oak Ridge ideally to the beach highway but at least to Rosemary Dunes so we have an interior loop and a bridge over the canal connecting Little Lake and Middle Lake,” West said. “That wouldn’t be paved because it sits right over utilities.”

West said besides recreation, the trail would also serve other purposes.

“I think that could be great interior connection to have from a couple of standpoints,” he said. “Number one, for people that like to do loops within the trail, this would allow people to circulate.

“It would also help from fire management standpoint. You’d be able to quickly access on both sides of the lake rather than going two miles out of the way just to get around. About 50-60 years ago there was a little bridge there and it went all the way to the beach. They called it Ridgeline Road.”

Now West starts to dream a little about additions he’d like to see to the system.

“In the ideal, we don’t own the right of way or anything, but we’d like to see the trail go north along Powerline all the way to Canal Road and then connect to The Wharf,” he said. “Come across the canals and head south to the beach highway so one day if you’re in your condo you can go across the street, get on the trail and go to The Wharf or the Sportsplex and watch events or whatever.”

West also has another trail in mind that would go all the way to Canal Road.

“Over by the golf course, again, we don’t own the right of way and it would cross private property, but we could have an alignment that goes to Canal Road at the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach city limits,” he said. “So if we ever have sidewalks that go along Canal Road from Orange Beach to Gulf Shores, that could be a neat connection to the trail from those sidewalks. You could tie in the schools, etc., from there.

“There could be more connections yet, but the original plan, we’ve almost got the framework on the ground.”

West also has a plan to make the campground safer by adding a trail on the north side. Currently Catman Trail runs into the old Campground Road which is the main run in the complex and heavily used by campers.

“We’ve like to extend Catman Trail, go around the campground and just north of it, but with extensions into the campground for the campers themselves,” he said. “If you drive through the campground, the kids on bikes, everybody rides in the road. There are a few things that could help. Number one, having the trail come all the way around and then got to State Road 2 and connect into Gulf Oak Ridge. That could be a cool trail connection.”

During the 2011 wildfire, it started in the area where this trail would be placed and could be helpful to fire fighters in the future.

“It would allow us to have a firebreak right there and since most fires originate in the campground, it would be a quick place to respond if you have that,” West said.

On the Gulf Shores end, the city recently received grant money for a new asphalt trail from near Regions Bank at Alabama 59 and Alabama 180 to the Branyon Backcountry trailhead on State Road 2.

“We have been awaiting the DOT to approve us a budget for a construction and inspection for a multi-use trail grant,” Public Works Director Mark Acreman said. “It’s one of the final things we were waiting on. They have allotted us up to $83, 872 as part of the grant.”

Acreman presented and the council approved a contract in July with DMD Engineering to complete the new spur.

“What I have is a contract with DMD Engineering, the design engineer of record for $70,800 for the actual construction and inspection project,” he said. “This is included in the grant that we have been awarded for this project.”

From Regions the trail will continue along with the power lines and cross the road at the old guard shack and at the entrance to the park headquarters. From there it will follow the north side of State Road 2 to the Backcountry connection near golf course.

“It’s about two miles of work,” Acreman said. “This is a long, arduous process.”