Dick Benoit of the Truckee Meadows Trails Association had no official trail to follow while touring the Huffaker Hills in southeast Reno.

At least not yet. Benoit instead followed some orange flags he laid down to mark a future trail.

“For a little bit of effort here, we can get a fair bit done,” he said of a proposed trail system. “The trick is we want to get local users involved.”

Benoit and other volunteers will begin work May 8 on the first of two loops.

He wants to form a group of trailbuilders like the ones who work every other week on the popular and growing network of trails in Evans Canyon on Peavine Peak.

A walking loop already exists next to Reno’s Huffaker Hills Park, on an isolated hill south of the main group of Huffaker Hills. The larger complex of hills has only the faint remains of some old roads that seem to go nowhere.

“I guess it’s been overlooked,” Benoit said. “I’ve lived here (in Reno) for 30 years, and I haven’t been here until this winter.”

Huffaker Hills is no longer being overlooked. This winter, the Washoe County Department of Parks and Recreation installed a gravel parking lot with a wooden fence to serve as a trailhead for the new paths. The county also plans to add picnic tables, interpretive signs and a portable restroom, said Mike Boster, a planner at the county parks department.

The county’s master plan slated the area to be developed as the Huffaker Hills Regional Park, but the county will keep an eye on the public’s reaction to the trails before going forward with those plans, he said.

The county has $125,000 from the 2000 Washoe County parks and open space bond approved by voters and $61,100 from a state recreation trails grant to spend on the project, he said.

The area where the trails will be built consists of about 300 acres of Bureau of Land Management property being managed by the county and some additional Washoe County and city of Reno property, he said.

“It’s a little oasis of open space in a growing area,” he said.

Eventually, the trails could connect with nearby areas, he said. By routing a trail to Double R Boulevard to the south, Double Diamond subdivision residents could walk or bike to the area from their homes.

If the county can acquire some property or easements to the north, the trails could connect with BLM parcels and the Hidden Valley Regional Park. A route to the east could reach Alexander Lake, a remnant of the Double Diamond wetlands.

Rattlesnake Mountain, the high point of the area, is private property, he said.

The mountain has been nominated for acquisition with funds from lands sold around Las Vegas under the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act. The mountain could also be bought with funds from a state bond.

Although the area is seldom visited, Benoit believes that will change.

“Once we put something here, there’s no doubt people will show up,” Benoit said.