Photo taken November 8, 2023, by Marcía McGetrick-West.
The joint Shasta Environmental Alliance–Shasta Chapter CNPS field trip to see the area in which the proposed Jenny Creek Trail in City of Redding Open Space would be located was enjoyed by a small group of people, including several Wintu Audubon members who were able to identify the many birds we saw on this walk.
We started in T.R. Woods Park on Royal Oaks Drive and walked to see the site where a bridge is proposed to be built across Jenny Creek. The Parks and Recreation Department has not released full details of the trail as yet, but it was originally proposed as a 12-foot-wide paved trail. As we hiked a use trail, it became evident, as we neared Jenny Creek toward the east end of the open space, that it would take a significant gash out of the hillside, due to the steepness of the terrain.
The trail corridor is set in an oak woodland between Royal Oaks and Overhill Drives. There were hundreds of birds along the route, which unfortunately I was flushing out before those behind me could catch sight of many of them. But birder Tricia Ford was able to identify many of the birds on the walk. This oak woodland is obviously very important habitat for birds, and undoubtedly for many small animals as well.
Following our walk in the open space, we drove to the end of Overhill Drive to a trail that crosses Jenny Creek and connects with the Sacramento River Trail.
Photo taken November 8, 2023, by Marcía McGetrick-West.
A 12-foot-wide trail in this important oak woodland seems unnecessary as there is already a quiet road for walking or biking from the end of Overhill Drive to Mary Street, from which one can get to Shasta High School, downtown Redding, and the Sacramento River Trail. On the other side of the neighborhood, there is yet another trail that reaches the Sacramento River Trail, from Palatine Court. Perhaps another neighborhood is more deserving of a trail. ~David Ledger
