Trail kick off party
We have spent the summer constructing the Demonstration Trail located in Grant Park just above the Ventura City Hall. Grant Park is home to the future Ventura Botanical Gardens. The Demonstration Trail is the first installation at the Gardens. The trail is just over a mile long. The upper segment of the trail between the barbecue area and Summit Road is wheelchair accessible. The section below Summit Road and the main view point is a natural surface trail. The lower section between the main viewpoint and the upper city hall parking lot is also wheelchair accessible.
With cool temperatures almost every day, ocean breezes and incredible views we feel very fortunate to have spent the hottest months of the year in Ventura!
This trail proved to be a challenge to build. We have worked in some very rocky terrain in the past however, we have never seen so many cobblestones as we have here. The cobblestones would get stuck in the tracks of our machines and pop the tracks right off of the sprockets!
During the trail design phase of this project we discovered terraces from a forgotten agriculture era.
Old Cobblestone walls
Many of the terraces had rock walls built from the abundantly available cobblestones. Though it took extra time and effort to align and build the trail along these old terraced areas while not damaging the old walls we felt it was important to do so. Several of these old rock walls can be seen along the lower section of the trail. Who built these walls and when is still a mystery.
Completed upper trail segment
Click here to view more photos of this project.
Click here to see a story in the Ventura County Star news about this project
For more information on the Ventura Botanical Gardens you can visit their website at: www.venturabotanicalgardens.com
