The finish line for funding to complete the 90km of new trails, which will be collectively known as the Queenstown Trail, is achingly close - of the $5 million required, all that remains to be raised is $500,000.
Speaking to the Queenstown Times, Mrs Parker said construction of the new trails had passed the halfway point.
The Arrowtown Trail is the latest section to begin construction and will follow the Arrow River from Tobins Track down the existing Millennium Track.
It will pass the Arrowtown Golf Course then twice cross the Arrow River over a 20m timber bridge and a 65m suspension bridge, before reaching Whitechapel Rd.
The entire trail, which will link Queenstown, Kelvin Heights, Frankton, Lake Hayes Estate, Arrowtown and Gibbston, is due for completion in September 2012 and is part of the New Zealand Cycleways initiative.
With less than a year until the trail is due to open, seeing the project come to fruition was incredible, Mrs Parker said.
"I am so excited.
"Now that so much of it has been formed - the rough part has been formed - the vistas and the most beautiful views have opened up for all of us to enjoy.
"There are new picnic areas, new fishing spots, new swimming spots - the locals are just going to go insane.
"We have got less than a year to go and that's going to just burn up really quickly, but everybody in Queenstown is going to be so proud of the end result."
Last year's Trail Blazer event attracted about 400 entrants and raised almost $200,000, half of which came from Sir Eion and Jan, Lady Edgar.
Since then Mrs Parker had raised a further $85,000, and she hoped to more than double the entries for this year's event, being held on November 18, with music and refreshments waiting at the finish line.
"I love a good goal - I'd like to see 1000 locals out there.
"If we can do that, it's $20,000.
"Wouldn't that be amazing?"
The Trail Blazer, which takes recreational and competitive cyclists, runners and walkers from Jacks Point to Jardine Park, costs $20 per person to enter, with a 12-month Queenstown Trails Trust "friend membership" included in the entry fee.
Registrations are available online, at www.queenstowntrail.co.nz or by posting a cheque to the Queenstown Trail, PO Box 1052, Queenstown 9348.
Categories for the 2011 event are men's and women's open, men's and women's junior (13-18 years) and veteran men and women (40+).
• Government: $1.83 million
• Queenstown Lakes District Council: $486,000
• Community Trust of Southland: $1 million
• Central Lakes Trust: $1 million
• Wakatipu Trails Trust and the community: $785,000
• Remaining funds to be raised: $500,000
