The South Lake Trail has added trail markers from the Orange County line west into Lake County. As far as trail markers go, they're pretty cool. Every half mile, you have a reddish, obelisk-style concrete post  that includes not only the trail mileage but GPS coordinates. This is Lake County trailblazers thinking ahead.

"We thought it would be nice touch for the future," said Mike Woods, transportation planner. "We’re trying to accommodate some other activities we don’t fully understand even."

He's talking about people who like to play games with satellites, like high-tech "orienteers" who race each other from one point to another using GPS devices. But he may also be thinking about the day when we're riding bikes that tell us where to turn and how to find the nearest bar and grille.

The half-mile marker posts with GPS coordinates run along the five-mile South Lake Trail from the Killarney Trailhead to Mohawk Road and up the 1.5 mile spur along Hancock Road toward Highway 50. They stop at Mohawk because that's where the Lake Minneola Scenic Trail picks up and takes you into Clermont and the park on Lake Minneola.

Woods says Lake County is talking with Clermont and Minneola about adding the 200-pound mile markers to their section of the trail, and the county plans include adding the markers on its 14-mile extension of the trail west to the Van Fleet Trail.