New Vinton trail that glows in the dark to be dedicated Thursday

Ceremony planned Thursday to open country’s longest glow-in-the-dark trail

An evening ribbon-cutting ceremony will begin at 9:30 p.m. Thursday for Nathan’s Miles, Vinton’s new glow-in-the-dark trail. Deemed the longest such trail in the country, glow stones are embedded in two miles of the three-mile trail. It’s named for late city council member Nathan Hesson, who died Jan. 21, and runs by his house, church, schools and parks where he and he his wife, Ashley, took their two elementary-age children.

The ceremony will be held at the trailhead at the corner of 21st Street and Second Avenue, on the northeast side of the school. The trail free and open to the public around the clock. Users are welcome to park in the high school lot, said Matt Boggess, director of Vinton’s Parks and Recreation Department.