September 1974: Meeting of recreational trail users led by Dorothy Moore. Out of that meeting came the concept of Perry Lake Trail and the Kansas Trails Council.

The Kansas Trails Council fielded its first team of pathfinders on a bitterly cold day in January, 1976---that’s when the Perry Lake Trail was born! From the beginning the Kansas City Outdoor Club has played a major role in mustering volunteers to do the hard manual labor of scouting, designing, clearing, marking and maintaining a hiking trail. The first two sections, stretching from Slough Creek Park through Longview Park to Old Military Trail Area were dedicated as a National Recreational Trail in April, 1978. In 1983, the pathfinders came back to Perry Lake, determined to add another fifteen miles, and determined, also, to develop a network of organizations and individuals to take care of the trail. Six years later they put the final blue blaze and the entire 28-mile loop was marked and ready for hiking.

Spring 1986: First clearing completed for Section 3.

February 1987: Paint blazes on Section 3 completed.

April 1987: First clearing of Section 4 occurred in April and throughout the Spring of ’87.

October 1987: Paint blazes completed on Section 4 between Ferguson Road and 82^nd St.

February 1988: Paint blazes complete on Section 4 between Ferguson Road and Slough Creek Park.

April 1988: Paint blazes completed on Section 4 along road.

November 1988: Paint blazes completed on Section 3 along Old Well Road (Kiowa Rd).

2/28/1991: Richard Douthit signs on as Trail Coordinator at Perry.

April 12.1991: Letter from Richard Douthit to KTC board RE: whether or not to permit mountain bikes on Perry Lake Trail.

9/16/1991: Letter from Frank Funk, Project Manager, to Richard Douthit RE: decision not to allow mountain bikes on Perry Lake Trail.

3/27/1992: Volunteer meeting with Mobe, Richard Douthit and existing Trailwatchers to introduce Steve Hassler and Kevin Otterman as new Trailwatchers at Perry.

4/3/1992: Report compiled by Richard Douthit to Frank Funk included the following data…

1983-1988: 1014 hours for new trail construction                     $7536.90

1988: routine maintenance and redesign work (398 hrs) $2375.50

1989: routine maintenance and redesign work (260 hrs) $1656.20

1990: routine maintenance (208 hrs)                                          $1522.64

1991: routine maintenance

            Coordinator (35 hrs)                 $521.85

            Trailwatchers (36 hrs)               $232.92

            Trailbuilders (158 hrs)   $671.50                       $1426.27

                                                                                                $14517.51

10/17/1992: Trailbuilding workshop at Longview Park, led by Richard Douthit. Cleared the spur trail to access a Hiker’s Campground with seven campsites. Each site provided a table and a rock fire ring, and was separated from other sites by at least 20-30’

10/18/1992: Volunteers camped the weekend at Old Military Trail for the trailbuilding workshop above. The Trailhead at Old Military Trail was relocated from an erosion area to an area about 20’ east at the corner of the parking lot.

1993: Coordinator: Richard Douthit; Trailwatcher Section1: Jim Jackson; Trailwatcher Section 2: Kevin Otterman; Trailwatcher Section3: Steve Hassler; Trailwatcher Section 4: Don Morford; Project Manager: Frank Funk; Park Manager: Dennis Archer.

1993: In that year crews from Kansas City Outdoor Club, Kanza Group of Sierra Club, and various informal groups called in by the Coordinator or Trailwatchers spent 328 hours at hard labor on the trail. Over the preceding then years the new Sections 3 and 4, plus routine maintenance cost these hardy volunteers 2688 hrs of labor, worth almost $20,000 at the going rate---a gift from these trail lovers to the people of Kansas.

March 8, 1993: Letter from Richard Douthit to Don Morford (section 4 trailwatcher) RE: reroute of Section 4 near Ferguson Road. The original route of Section 4 east and north of Ferguson Road was moved away from the lake due to nesting eagle pairs on the Slough Creek arm. Letter included maps of original and proposed route.

November 1993: Jim Jackson let a work crew which began on top of the hill at Devil’s Gap Trailhead and made a loop down to the picnic grounds.

November 1993: Steve Hassler led a Sierra Club crew on Section 3, with Kevin Otterman doing the big bow saw work. Attendance on that outing was 13, including above and Richard Douthit.

December 1993: A total of six eagles, two adults and four younger ones, were observed on Section 2 near Solitude Point.

February 1994: Dorothy Moore is announced at the Coordinator for Perry Lake Trail, replacing Richard Douthit. The trailwatchers consist of: Jim Jackson, Section1; Kevin Otterman, Section 2, Steve Hassler, Section 3; John Haynes, Section 4.

3/19/94: Steve Hassler led a Kanza Sierra Club work crew on Section 3.

3/29/11994: A GPS trail mapping project was conducted on Section 3, utilizing a base station GPS survey unit and a field unit. Initial results showed a trail mileage from 3.87 miles from OMT to Kiowa Road. The trailhead at OMT was later rerouted to the southeast.

1/28/1995: Seven bald eagles were observed on the Little Slough Creek arm of the lake along the hiking trail. An active beaver lodge was also observed in the cove below Solitude Point.

3/17/1995: After multiple outings spanning from 11/19/94 thru 1/28/95, the first GPS trail mapping project was completed on Section 2. In addition to GPS trail mapping, the project grew to include GIS data collection: cataloging remaining driftwood locations on the trail from the flood of ’93, cataloging deadfall locations for removal by Corps personnel and marking points of interest for a future trail brochure. Bridge crossings were also identified at that time for the first site within OMT and the second site at Old Quarry Road.

Letter from Mobe, 2/15/96: Park Manager Dennis Archer replaced by Natural Resources Specialist Barbara “Bunnie” Watkins, who will take a more active role with the trail.

Week of 3/3/96: Volunteer meeting with trailwatchers and COE staff

We lost our friend and mentor, Richard Douthit, on Christmas Day, 1996.

First week of March, 1997: Volunteer meeting wth trailwatchers and COE staff. Jim Jackson resigned from Section1 and was replaced by Dave Brackey.

Fall 1997: Maintenance activities on Section 2 were over 62 manhours including setting the bridge pillars for the OMT bridge.

11/1/97: Sierra Club Maintenance Outing. Small crew devoted manpower to finishing the OMT bridge. Bridge work crew included Carl and Barb Ringler, and Kevin Otterman.

Spring 1998: Maintenance activities on Section 2 were over 30 manhours including a reroute of Section 2 in the vicinity of the current Richard Douthit park bench site.

1/31/98: Sierra Club Maintenance Outing. Sierra club crew worked on the reroute above on Section 2 near the current site of Richard Douthit park bench.