Trail Talk – June 2015

The Woodlands and Forest Park are part of the city parks system and provide venues for more experiences than just trails to hike. Both parks are rich displays of Jacksonville’s history. The Woodlands showcases the start of the gold mining that led to the city’s birth in the 1850s. Brick factories sprang up along Jackson Creek to provide the bricks for today’s historic downtown buildings. The miners quickly moved up the canyons of the Forest Park, blasting the hillsides with their water cannons to wash the gold into their sluice boxes. One hundred years ago, the city drew their drinking water from the creeks in the Forest Park, supplemented by water from a tunnel driven into the mountain. Today that tunnel produces the same high quality water and discharges it into Cantrall and Jackson Creek all year-long. These streams all come together as Jackson Creek which traverses the city. The quality of this water is the city’s responsibility, and volunteer groups along with the city crews have done several important and effective land restoration projects in the Forest Park over the last several years. These projects have reduced sediment in the streams to provide much cleaner water in Jackson Creek. Recreation-wise, both parks are increasingly the venues for trail running races. The Firehouse Run in July in the Woodlands has been going for several years, and the Forest Park Run was just done for the second time in May. Both of these races are 5k and 10k races, and each race attracts around 100 runners of all ages. The races are organized by members of the Southern Oregon Runners club, the premier running club of Southern Oregon. The club has 40 races scheduled in 2015, and Jacksonville gets to have the benefit of two of them. Jacksonville is known not only for its history, but increasingly for its healthy living style, which attracts young families to come and live in our unique town. In this climate, outdoor activities can go on year-round, including on the trails systems. Thus within a mile of the city, parents can take their children out for walks along streams and in shady canyons, treating them for that new childhood disease called Nature Deficit Disorder, commonly caused by too much time indoors. One of the best kept secrets about both the Woodlands and the Forest Park is how little it costs the city to own and maintain these unique treasures. The Woodlands is supported by the Jacksonville Woodlands Association, and the Forest Park by the Forest Park Volunteers. Regardless, the trail systems require very little annual maintenance. All the trails have been built to rigid standards for sustainability, and then need only occasional weed eating or noxious weed removal.