Photo Credit: Steve Orr
It’s happening on land a few blocks away from Mark Twain’s boyhood home.
You’ll see senior citizens strolling, toddlers on tricycles, women walking and talking, teenagers zipping by on scooters, runners keeping step with each other. Weather and time of day don’t seem to matter. Sodalis Nature Preserve in Hannibal, Mo., is filled with residents and tourists who come to visit Mark Twain’s home and museum, the Mark Twain Cave, and other historic features in this Mississippi River town of 18,000 people.
But two years ago, this 180-acre bluff high above the river was filled with four-wheelers racing through the trails, abandoned mining buildings covered with graffiti, and caves packed with debris.