Exciting news for nature lovers: the first phase in the development of a new park in Fall River Mills is underway! Two Rivers Park, a Fall River Valley Community Services District project, will include the standard playground, picnic area, and restrooms on a 5-acre urban parcel. It will also include an adjacent 35-acre natural area with a network of trails.
We visited the 35 acres in May to do a botanical survey and were delighted with the wildflowers in bloom, both for their numbers and diversity.
This natural area is set at the confluence of the Pit and Fall rivers and includes shady Oregon-oak woodlands, open grasslands with scattered junipers, and ponderosa pine forest. Rocky outcrops line the slim riparian corridor, and there are views of the river, falls, and lands to the east.
It may be a year or two before trails are constructed in the natural area, but the park promises to be a real gem—a wonderful place to see mid- to late-spring blooms that we don’t often see in the valley. We will keep you updated as to the progress of this exciting endeavor, so stay tuned!
Photo by Don Burk, May 19, 2022.
In the meantime, we hope you will enjoy the following slideshow of just a few of the numerous native plants that we saw that day. All photos by Don Burk.
~Laurie & Don Burk
