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"One of the most beautiful things about this trail is that you are working your way up the headwaters,
<br /> and you'll see water."—PHILIP RICHARDSON,EUGENE PARKS PLANNING STAFF
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<br /> BRIAN DAVIES/The Register-Guard
<br /> Philip Richardson points out the variety of flora and fauna in Spencer Butte Park along the route of the proposed trail to be built this summer.
<br /> City to add last link to emerald chain
<br /> planning staff. "Hopefully, you'll be
<br /> The Amazon Headwaters Trail,the tnal ortion able to realize that connection be- --•Existing Ridgeline Trail
<br /> f p tween the concrete channel in the --.Trail extension,
<br /> of a public greenbelt,will be open by next spring middle of town and this beautiful ends at Prank KinneyPark
<br /> area."
<br /> BY JOE MOSLEY through almost a mile of the near- The city is expected to award the
<br /> The Register-Guard wilderness on Eugene's southeast contract for building the trail in the 3�' Q 4-
<br /> edge.
<br /> next few weeks,and work may start o}�� S' r�
<br /> For now, it's a walk on the wild And by next spring,the Amazon by the end of July. Currently, the v SV
<br /> side. Headwaters Trail—a woodsy tendril trail is little more than a bushwhack- N z
<br /> Down ravines thick with Douglas of the Ridgeline Trail system—will ing course marked by fluorescent tti
<br /> and grand fir,lush with sword,maid- be open for business.It's the last link surveyors'flags. p'L�� •
<br /> en and licorice ferns- of a public greenbelt that will con- When volunteer crews finish coy- o`' . mile
<br /> Over, under and around the nett hillside streamlets with Amazon ering the trail's wet spots with gravel '''P' Eugene
<br /> reaching branches of vine maple and Creek as it flows through Eugene next spring, Eugene will have the
<br /> tangles of wild filbert. and toward Fern Ridge Lake. first addition to its 14-mile Ridgeline We
<br /> Past blackberry brambles and "One of the most beautiful things Trail system in more than 10 years.
<br /> •cion oak clumps,across steep stre- about this trail is that you are work- More changes are in store,includ- ,,se
<br /> 1,11heds and through seasonal ing your way up the headwaters,and ing an extension from the eastern
<br /> , ,,+ttnels. you'll see water," says Philip Rich- end of the improved trail at Mount
<br /> i ys:,r.-.re,re"s end,perhaps,volun- ardson, a landscape designer and
<br /> 4-14 r;;ii h:;,e opened a swath trail guru on Eugene's parks Please turn to TRAIL,Page D4 STEPHANIE Fsr,1'ee,;.;ter-Guard
<br /> Trail: Traffic has taken toll on current path
<br /> Continued from Page Dl "The very first time we
<br /> -ThenesIster--Guard
<br /> AMAZON HEADWATERS TRAIL hiked it was probably over a
<br /> Baldy onward to Moon Moun- Trail-building:Contract work may begin by late July,finishing year ago," Richardson says. JuT� 24 12OO�j
<br /> tain, and potentially another We tried to familiarize our-
<br /> touches by volunteers by next spring.
<br /> Ridgeline connection from Dil-
<br /> lard Road through 54 acres of The next step was to flag an
<br /> newly acquired parkland. ` Park,at the end of West Amazon Parkway,to the Ridgeline approximate route, with final
<br /> trailhead on Fox Hollow Road-
<br /> "We're hoping some future Context:First addition in more than 10 years to the 14-mile alignment during the wet
<br /> funding measure comes along Ridgeline Trail system,developed during the early 1980s in months of last winter to ensure
<br /> 1 to keep things going, so we do Eugene's south hills. that seasonal changes in
<br /> have that complete connection
<br /> (to nearby neighborhoods),"
<br /> says Andrea Riner, the cit streamlet water levels were tak-
<br /> en
<br /> Cost:Final 13-acre parcel that makes the headwaters
<br /> en into account.
<br /> s connection possible purchased for about$140,000—including
<br /> y money from the city's Parks and Open Space bond measure, All of which gets back to pro-
<br /> parks planning manager. stormwater management funding and a$40,000 donation tecting the headwaters area,
<br /> 1 The existing trail system is from the Audubon Society- which is expected to lead to a
<br /> heavily used,and the foot traf- Next up:Possible future extensions of Ridgeline system from stable future for the far reaches
<br /> tic has begun to take a toll— Mount Baldy to Moon Mountain and southwest off Dillard Road, of Amazon Creek.
<br /> particularly near the top of the More info:Contact parks planner Philip Richardson, "When you protect your
<br /> trail up and around Spencer Philip.s.richardson@ci.eugene.or.us or call 682-4800. headwaters,you have a sort of
<br /> Butte. The trail to the summit jump-start on downstream ero-
<br /> 1forks in several directions as le- sion problems," Richardson
<br /> gions of hikers have made their rough tracks that criss-cross Amazon Drive,gaining 450 feet says.
<br /> own way around outcroppings the hillside and could threaten of elevation by the time it In fact,the northernmost 13
<br /> 5 and over boulders. streambeds and rare plants. reaches the existing Ridgeline acres of parkland through
<br /> • "There's been some habitat "It's to kind of minimize the trailhead on Fox Hollow Road. which the trail will wind was
<br /> loss on top of the butte,"Riner off-trail usage," Richardson Contract specifications call purchased with a combination
<br /> says. "It's kind of a constant says. "We see that(trail avail- for a 6-foot-wide, 10-foot-high of money set aside to enhance
<br /> problem with any trail system ability) really minimizes the corridor through the second the city's stormwater system,
<br /> when it gets above the tree damage, even though it will growth forest,with boardwalks funds from the city's Parks and
<br /> line." bring more people here. and culverts protecting sensi- Open Space bond measure and a
<br /> ) The new.Amazon Headwa- "There's a pretty large and tive areas, and at least two donation from the Audubon So-
<br /> " ters Trail will be well below the enthusiastic group of hikers in bridges crossing sedge-filled fin- ciety—a total of$140,000. ,
<br /> I tree line,still efforts were made this community." gers of the creek's headwaters. The trail-building itself is be-
<br /> to keep people on track.Hikers The new trail will wind up- Plenty of switchbacks will ing done with a portion of a f
<br /> • in the area will be drawn to the ward from Frank Kinney Park keep the trail's slope to a maxi- $50,000 grant from the state's
<br /> improved trail and away from at the south end of West mum of 12 degrees. Recreational Trails Program.
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