Construction is set to start in mid summer for St. Louis County's new Packwood Park Nature Trek in Wildwood.

The 367-acre park will be on a scenic overlook of the Meramec River off Old State Road and feature a system of hiking, equestrian and mountain biking trails. It will serve as a standalone attraction and a connection between the Al Foster Trail, Rock Hollow Trail, and the trail system for Castlewood State Park, said Joe Vujnich, director of planning and parks for Wildwood.

The City Council is set to vote on Feb. 27 on final approval of an agreement for up to $42,150 with Terraspec to prepare design and engineering drawings for the site.

Development of trails and a trailhead on the property would be a cooperative project with the St. Louis County Parks and Recreation Department and the city of Wildwood, Vujnich said.

"The city and county have been working toward opening this site for a couple years, after the county land-banked property at the site starting 25 years ago," he said.

The park will be owned by the county, but the county and city will have a cooperative agreement for management, Vujnich said.

Wildwood recently obtained $285,500 from the Municipal Parks Grant Commission for work on the park. The city also has allocated $100,000 to the project from its capital improvements budget.

The county has contributed the land and other services like trail development, said Tom Ott, assistant director of the county's parks and recreation department.

A volunteer group called AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps did work in late 2010 and late 2011 to clear trails at two of the county's properties in that area of Wildwood, Ott said. One was the Packwood site. The other was Wildwood's nearby Rock Hollow Trail.

"We're creating an upland single-track trail that will connect those two properties through Castlewood State Park," Ott said.

Overall, a nine-mile trail is planned through the properties, Ott said.

"We'd love to have the Packwood Trail, including about five miles of trails, open by late fall," Ott said.

Other features planned for Packwood are a trailhead, a parking lot, an access road and picnic tables.

"Topographically, the Packwood land doesn't lend itself to much else," Vujnich said. "It's very rough terrain, steep, rocky and heavily wooded, and all improvements will be on a narrow ridge line. But the site has one of the best views out on to the Meramec River and its Crescent Valley, like a scenic overlook.

"I think people will be tickled pink when they get in there."

The county decided to purchase land for the Packwood Park site even before it was ready to develop it, to ensure the land remained undeveloped, Ott said.

"It's because of the partnership with Wildwood and the state that the county is able to do this, to stretch its dollars," Ott said. "Otherwise, the park wouldn't have been possible due to our budget limitations."

Ott said the partnership also benefits Wildwood where the Al Foster Trail that runs from the Glencoe area to Sherman Beach has seen increased use over the last five years.

"That lends itself to do this park and its dirt trails, which, in addition to hikers, will also be accessible to equestrians and mountain bikers, who can't use the Al Foster and Rock Hollow trails. So it fills another need," he said. "We've had some interest from potential users like the Gateway Off Road Cyclists, because new trails are the hot thing today."