This overhead map incorporates the preliminary layout of the proposed Northwest Community Park, done by Eau Claire Parks and Rec. It’s important to note that while the land appears flat here (from space!), there are elevation changes throughout the area.

Bookmarked by Jeffers Road on the east and Old Wells Road and the Chippewa River on the west, this park off the North Crossing hopes to have an entrance off Jeffers Road with a 6-acre dog park. Just beyond the tree line is a 160-car parking lot with large group pavilions. A ski trail/bike trail loops throughout the central portion of the park, with the northernmost section reserved for a terrain park and tubing run. The aim is to create something fun for summer as well as winter.

Other features include a lookout, overlook, small pavilion with restrooms and parking, and a pedestrian bridge out of the park.

    Mmmmm the smell of wild mountain bike trails, a slick tubing hill, cross-country ski trails, a dog park, pavilion, lookout point, and a whole lotta fun is wafting this way. This tasty concoction has been brewing, simmering, and bubbling for the past 20 years, and the completion of the final product is within sight. However, there are still a few crucial ingredients missing. What is this concoction exactly? There is not yet an official name for the new Eau Claire terrain park, but for our purposes, lets call it Northwest Community Park.   

    In 2006, a survey of the City of Eau Claire by the Parks and Recreation department revealed that 28 percent of the community felt there were not enough cross country ski trails or nature trails to service the community. A whopping 43 percent were hungry for more tubing areas. Little did the community know that in the 90s they purchased a large section of land titled “Northwest Community Park” off of Jeffers Road and North Crossing for future park development. (It’s located along the Chippewa River, and if you follow Old Wells Road to the Old Wells Neighborhood Park, you’re in the right spot.)

    Since then, ideas have been bounced around, meetings with the community have taken place, plans have been drawn, and some trails have been cleared. So though this extremely ambitous project may seem out of reach, many of the preliminary steps have been taken.

    The land is about 110 acres and is in the shape of Louisiana, sort of. There are plans for a tubing/ski/snowboard hill with future dreams of a tow rope, snowmaking machines, and a warming hut. There is a tangle of cross-country ski trails for winter, and some pretty crazy looking trails for summer mountain biking. Part of the park includes some swampy lowland with elevated trails for a nice change of scenery, but most of it is hilly and loaded with trees.

    Just looking at the rolling hills and the way the sunset puts fire in the trees is enough to make one antsy with anticipation. However, patience is a virtue and will be necessary when it comes to the completion of the park as well. There are still a few missing ingredients, the main one being dough – you know, greenbacks. Money.

    There is a key piece of land that would serve as a perfect entrance to this wonderland of year-round fun (attached to Jeffers Road and continuing to the tree line.). Unfortunately, according to officials, it’s really the only good location for an entrance to the park and is privately owned. The price to purchase this hunk of land is about $650,000; a lot of money during a poor budget year. If the city secures the entrance, there’s still plenty of uphill work to be done. Quite a bit of time and money will be needed to create the trails and build the tubing hill.

    Phil Fieber, head of the Eau Claire Park and Recreation department, is excited about this idea and anxious to meet the needs of the community.

    “I think it is going to be a very unique park for Eau Claire with lots of great features and easily accessible to the public,” Fieber said enthusiastically. But at the moment, nobody knows when the completion of the park will be.

    While the costs involved may seem daunting, there should be no question that the end result is a mind-blowing addition to our city, and stands to position Eau Claire on the cutting edge of recreation parks in the state.

Call the parks and rec office at 839-5032 if have any ideas, questions, comments, or donations. They can only help speed up this process. If we all come together and help stir the pot, the feast of winter and summer sports can start all the sooner.