Fresno-area parks attract huge pandemic crowds. We need more room to walk, hike, ride
These last 12 months have revealed much about our region’s shortcomings. Among the most glaring: Central San Joaquin Valley residents need more room to recreate.
Over being cooped up by COVID-19, we’re utilizing our parks, bike trails and open-space areas at levels heretofore unseen in my 23 years of living here. So much that they’re almost ready to burst.
Sunday was one of those beautiful days that feel like spring even though winter has a firm grip on the calendar. (My blossoming apple tree sure was fooled.) To make the most of it, I headed out to the San Joaquin River Gorge Recreation Area.
When I first started going there to hike, mountain bike and enjoy the spring wildflower displays, those 6,500 acres of public lands straddling the San Joaquin River outside Auberry were practically deserted — even on weekends.
That wasn’t the case Sunday. Cars crammed every parking lot (both official and makeshift) and turnout. On the 8-mile Pa’San Ridge Loop I crossed paths with about three dozen people. Less than half wore masks, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.
On the two previous weekends, I made day trips to Sequoia National Park. Early in the morning, Highway 198 into the park and the Generals Highway up to Giant Forest and Wolverton was clear. But on the way back, the amount of traffic caused by those going up the hill was staggering.
At the park entrance station on the early afternoon of Feb. 13, the line of cars stretched all the way across Pumpkin Hollow Bridge and into the outskirts of Three Rivers.
“I’ve never seen it this crazy,” said my girlfriend, a Visalia native who has visited Sequoia her entire life, as we drove past in the opposite direction.
Too many people, too little space
On one hand, it’s great to see so many people enjoying the outdoors and taking advantage of the recreational opportunities our area has to offer.
On the other, judging by the crowds and increasing amount of litter in places that used to be pristine, the numbers are starting to overwhelm both their intended capacity and our ability to take care of them. Just ask the folks living along Sky Harbor Road near Millerton Lake.
My favorite local gravel-ride loop passes through Ledger Island, state property made even more accessible by the recent purchase of Sumner Peck Ranch by the San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust.
There’s a particular spot along the river with granite boulders containing mortar holes made by Native American tribes. It’s a great place to stop for a snack. At least it was — until somebody left a pile of human feces and toilet paper nearby.
There’s more than anecdotal evidence to support my assertion that more people are using parks and trails. Relying on electronic counters, Clovis officials estimated more than 3 million people (including repeat visitors) utilized the city’s trail system in 2020 despite statewide stay-at-home orders and periods of horrible air quality.
The 2020 figures taken from the Dry Creek, Old Town and Enterprise trails (and presented at the Feb. 1 city council meeting) each eclipsed previous highs. For example, the Dry Creek Trail saw 1,283,655 visitors last year compared to 903,112 in 2019 and 761,027 in 2018.
Will those numbers deflate once more people get vaccinated and the shopping malls and movie theaters reopen? I suspect not. Shaded for much of its 2.5-mile length, the Dry Creek Trail is the nicest suburban bicycle and walking path around. The word is out.
Tax will boost Fresno parks, river parkway
Fortunately, there are encouraging signs — none larger than the 0.375% citywide sales tax Fresno will soon be collecting thanks to the better-late-than-never passage of Measure P.
While most of that money will go to upgrade and rehabilitate current city parks (46%) and develop new ones (21.5%), an 11.25% slice is ticketed for the San Joaquin River Parkway. Which should finally solve the operations and maintenance quandary that has stalled its expansion.
Tuesday night, the state agency responsible for assembling the long-envisioned 22-mile recreation and wildlife corridor between Friant Dam and Highway 99 hosted a public forum on Facebook to discuss how the Eaton Trail could be extended in northwest Fresno.
Any progress is great to see. In other parts of town, the city’s first protected bike lanes were recently installed on R Street. (Why there? I’m not sure.) Plans for additional protected bike lanes along Palm and Belmont avenues are rapidly progressing, as is (believe it or not) construction of the much-delayed Midtown Trail.
Central San Joaquin Valley residents are fortunate to live within driving distance of three national parks and millions of acres of national forest. But recreational opportunities inside our city limits, along our rivers and among our foothills are insufficient to meet current need.
The pandemic only exacerbated the problem. It’s up to us to demand, and help forge, solutions.
