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A view from the creek to the coast By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings New signs soon will mark a route for anyone who's ever stood in town and gazed up at Mount Ashland, wondering if there's a way to hike or mountain bike to the top. Those interested in making the 10-mile trek no longer will have to be experts on the maze of trails and roads above Ashland. In the next few weeks, Ashland Parks and Recreation Department staff will begin putting up signs showing a route from the Bear Creek Greenway through the city and into the hills. Jeff McFarland, trails supervisor for the parks department, is shown with Creek to Crest sign that will mark the route from Bear Creek Greenway to the Pacific Crest Trail. Photo by Chris Miller U.S. Forest Service personnel then will continue placing signs on federal land up to the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, which crosses Mount Ashland on its way from Canada to Mexico. "This will help people make the connection between the forest and the creek," said Mike Ricketts, recreation specialist for the Ashland and Applegate Ranger Districts. "People ask, 'How do we get up there? What's the route?' This is the answer to that." The signs are part of an overall program to designate and make improvements to a trail system leading from the valley floor to the Pacific Crest Trail. The parks department and Forest Service won a $60,000 matching grant from the Oregon Recreation and Parks Association for the Creek to Crest route, which has been designated as a Visionary Trail Route for the state. "We've contributed over $60,000 in match and in-kind services," said Jeff McFarland, forestry and trails supervisor for the parks department. Numerous organizations made contributions and volunteered to make the project possible, he said. Approximately $3,000 went toward purchasing more than 180 signs to marks the route for people traveling up or downhill, according to McFarland. People using the route will be able to pick between two paths through Ashland. Both begin along the greenway near the Ashland dog park and continue up Helman Street. One goes through the downtown area to Lithia Park, up Glenview Drive and the Ashland Loop Road, and onto the trail system. The other route veers off Helman onto the bike path through the Historic Railroad District, and then up Walker Avenue, Hillview Drive, Crestview Drive, Park Street and into Siskiyou Mountain Park and the trail system. Larger signs will mark intersections, trailheads and other key points, while smaller, computer disk-sized signs will let recreationalists know they haven't gotten off track. "They're called reassurance markers," Ricketts said. "People can say, 'Okay, I'm still on the trail.' It reassures the user that they're on the right path." Each sign depicts a ribbon of blue that can be interpreted as a creek or trail, city buildings such as the Ashland Springs Hotel, the urban-wildlands interface in the hills and the Siskiyou Crest, with Mount Ashland as the high point, Ricketts and McFarland said. People without the endurance or time to complete the entire Creek to Crest route can access the trail at different points, including the White Rabbit, Four Corners and Bull Gap trailheads, according to Ricketts. Parks and Forest Service staff have a goal to finish putting up the signs by June 30. The Forest Service will not begin putting up signs until May, Ricketts said. "We'll start at the low elevations and follow the snow," he said. Contributors to the project include Southern Oregon University's REAL Corps, Jackson County Horsemen, Southern Oregon Mountain Bike Association, Natural Resources Youth Corps, Southern Oregon Land Conservancy, Ashland Woodlands & Trail Association, Northwest Youth Corps, Southern Oregon Sizzlers running group, Pacific Crest Association and community members who volunteer for trail work days. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -