No one told the Natchez Trails Project committee to think big. But that is what they do — what they have been doing since the project’s inception within the Community Alliance nearly three years ago.

Trails — not just dusty paths, they dreamed — would take walkers, runners and bikers along the bluff, by the riverfront and throughout the historic area of downtown Natchez on first-class walking surfaces.

And the trails would be educational, Natchez-resident oriented as well as tourist oriented, the committee said. They would be recreational as well as instructive in the history of sites and buildings with kiosks along the way supplying entertaining information.

“People are embracing this project,” said David Gardner, chairman of Natchez Trails and city engineer.

Phase 1 of the project includes river, bluff and downtown trails. Phase 2 will take the trails further outside the downtown.

Brett Brinegar, grants coordinator for the city, said she is working with Darlene Jones, another city employee on revitalizing St. Catherine Street.

“That would be part of Phase 2,” she said. “It would take in a huge amount of African-American history, antebellum, civil rights and modern day.”

And it would connect the trails to Forks of the Road, “a project dear to my heart,” Brinegar said. “Forks of the Road needs to be a major piece on the trails.”

Forks of the Road is a historic preservation work in progress, a site important in the history of the South for the slave market that was located there in the early 1800s, the second largest in the Deep South.

Gardner said the plans extend even further — all the way to the Natchez Trace on one side of town to the other side of the Mississippi River on the other, connecting with Vidalia.

“The trails will loop into Forks of the Road and work into the Trace from there,” Gardner said.

“I see it working into Vidalia, too,” Gardner said. “We’re asking businesses in Vidalia to support it. We want to link with our sister city and let them develop historic trails there.”

In Phase I, the trails will be in three sections or components.

The sections are the riverfront trail, three routes at different levels with sweeping views of the river; downtown trail, with two routes guided by color-coded signs and with explanatory kiosks along the way; and a unique route called “Museum of the Streets,” outdoor exhibits with elaborate illustrations using historic photographs, drawings and written descriptions of sites.

Some of the benefits of the trails may be obvious — promoting healthy recreation and beautification, for example.

Those are two of the reasons the Natchez Ministerial Alliance has interest in the project, said the Rev. Dr. John Larson, president of the alliance and among core members of the committee who attend meetings weekly.

“I became involved first when I was asked to attend a meeting about the Museum of the Streets,” Larson said. “Then we were enfolded into the Trails Project.”

Members of the ministerial alliance are very supportive of the idea, he said. “It’s a city project, for one thing. And it’s health-oriented and it’s a beautification project.”

Tourists will benefit and indeed will come because of scenic, historic trails, Brinegar said.

“Federal agencies have studied the effects of trails in a community,” Brinegar said. “They have found that trails draw more people. Scenic trails bring tourists.”

Dr. James T. Coy III, manager of Natchez Pilgrimage Tours, said the impact on tourism is obvious to him.

“It combines the river and the bluffs with the downtown, our three strong points,” Coy said.

“It eliminates wandering around needlessly. It will be informative and educational. It will give tourists some direction,” he said.

Although some walking tours of historic downtown Natchez exist, the trails will be more extensive and will provide more information — right on the spot, on kiosks along the way.

Furthermore, the trails will be an economic boon because of the tourism impact, according to studies, Brinegar said. “In our case, the downtown area will definitely get a boost to the economy.”

For the past month, the project committee has focused on fundraising to provide the funds needed to meet match requirements of grants totaling about $2.5 million.

“We have to come up with our local funds now,” Gardner said. “This is a community project, led by the Community Alliance. We want the community to buy ownership into the project by donations and volunteerism.”