There is currently a trail in the late planning stage that would roughly follow Jenny Creek in the Sunset Terrace neighborhood running from TR Woods Park on Royal Oaks, traversing through the City of Redding-owned open space between the homes on Royal Oaks Drive on the northwest and Sunset Drive, Pioneer and Overhill Drives to the southeast. The proposed trail will connect with a wide concrete trail running from a service road at the end of Overhill Drive that crosses Jenny Creek and ultimately connects to the Sacramento River Trail at the ½ mile point from the Diestelhorst Bridge parking lot.
According to Travis Menne, the new Director of Redding Community Services, the final plans for the trail will be made public in November. The trail will be paved, most likely concrete, 12 feet wide, and will be lighted. Menne said it would not go near the riparian area of Jenny Creek but above the creek in the blue oak woodland of the open space. Using Google Maps, for a trail that wide it appears that a considerable number of blue oaks will be removed, but with the final trail map not yet available to the public this is speculation. There is already a hand-dug trail running from near the end of Royal Oaks Drive to the Sacramento River Trail, complete with a bench and it does not appear that a single native oak tree was removed building this trail.
SEA was contacted by some residents of the surrounding neighborhood who are opposed to the trail, however until a final map and details are released, we cannot take a position on it, although we did give them some insight into the planning process and CEQA. The Trails and Bikeways Council of Redding has long advocated for a trail from the Mary Lake Subdivision to Jenny Creek and has built a gravel trail on a short section upstream of Mary Lake without removing a native tree. This short section is a tiny oasis of wildlife in the neighborhood.
SEA will be hosting a hike of this are on Nov. 8th at 9:30 a.m. You can find more information on this field trip by clicking here.
how about just leaving the area alone and natural. Or as a compromise a SMALL crushed stone trail. We really don’t need to pour concrete all over the planet. If you want to improve the area clean out the undergrowth to keep the vegetation healthy and fire free.
thanks for your time.
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