A New Stretch Of Trail At Centennial Park Is Ready To Rock
dozens of CORBA volunteers – and Blugold students! – are to thank for the addition
Just ahead of the holiday season, a roughly 2,000-foot addition to Centennial Park's (3125 Spooner Ave., Altoona) trail system is ready to explore. The new segment located on the southwest end of the park expands the trail mileage used for walking, biking, snowshoeing and more.
Formerly identified as the Otter Creek trails, the local nonprofit organization Community for Outdoor Recreation, Biking and Adventure (CORBA) describes the Centennial Park system as an “island of nature surrounded by cityscape on all sides.”
Its existing three-mile “nature paved” singletrack follows alongside Otter Creek for about a mile before continuing under US Highway 53, connecting to the newest trail additions.
Trail work – which the Centennial Park trails volunteers describe as the process of getting new trail corridors approved and then created – on this new segment began in July. The addition wrapped up on Saturday, Oct. 3, Trail Liaison Dean Roth shared.
Alongside dozens of CORBA volunteers who supported the effort, a group of two dozen UW-Eau Claire students flocked to Centennial Park to help out just before classes began this fall.
“The students worked hard. I'm pleased to say the worst injuries were blisters – and they were earned.”
DEAN ROTH
CENTENNIAL PARK TRAIL LIAISON, CORBA
That group, led by “Trail Master” volunteers and CORBA members, worked on the brand-new singletrack addition for four hours, as part of the Cosby Honors College program.
Before getting into it, the volunteers led a brief orientation about CORBA, local trail networks and design principles, as well as plenty of “safety talk,” Roth said.
With seemingly limited “woodsy” work experience, the students were enthusiastic and eager to learn, Roth noted. They divvied up tasks, from small root removal and minor hand-tool soil work, to working on areas of the trail that crossed side slopes.
“Many students thought they'd be doing maintenance; light pruning, litter pick up, raking leaves off the trail,” Roth said. “(They) were far more impressed to see new trail segments fully constructed from the woods and brush.”
“The students worked hard. I'm pleased to say the worst injuries were blisters – and they were earned.”
As noted on CORBA's website, the Centennial Park trail system – free to visit – is multi-use and a popular dog walking destination, with both beginner-friendly paths and longer hikes to explore. A map of the area can be viewed online.
Learn more about the Eau Claire County, Chippewa County, Dunn County and Barron County trail systems CORBA helps maintain online at corbatrails.org. Visit the Centennial Park trails system at 3125 Spooner Ave., Eau Claire.
