Those who like to walk in the Pleasant Valley Nature Preserve near High Ridge will get to double their pleasure later this year.
Courtesy of a $74,500 grant from the Jefferson Foundation, the Jefferson County Parks and Recreation Department is expanding and improving the main walking trail in the 40-acre preserve at 6701 Twin River Road near Byrnes Mill Road and Hwy. PP.
“The trails that are there now are mulch and dirt,” parks director Tim Pigg said. “Our plans were, in addition to doubling the length of the main trail, it will have a compacted gravel surface. Now, we’re expanding some of the other trails, relocating some and abandoning some of the older ones.”
Pigg said work at the preserve has been going on for about three weeks and should wrap up, weather permitting, by the end of April.
He said making the trail improvements answers a top request from the public.
“Trail access is the No. 1 priority for a lot of the people we talk with,” he said. “They tell us, ‘Give us a place where we can walk or jog or ride bikes.’”
Not everyone, however, is happy about the improvements.
Suzy Davis of High Ridge, who operates the nearby Rocking J Ranch, said she was upset to see signs posted restricting horses from the nature preserve.
In a letter to the Leader, Davis said that years ago, horse owners reached an agreement with the Parks and Recreation Department to allow equestrians to use the area. “The new trails in the lower area were not designed for use by horses,” Pigg said. “The sight lines on the trail will be such that at times, it will be difficult for people using the trail by foot to see horses coming their way.”
Pigg said he understands that horse owners want a place to ride.
“We’re working with the owner of Rocking J Ranch and the others to come up with a solution, perhaps at another site,” he said.
Pigg said even though horses have used the area, Pleasant Valley is not optimal for that use.
“Pleasant Valley is not strictly a park, but a nature preserve. And it’s not that big,” he said. “We’re trying to keep things as pristine as we can. Of course, making gravel trails isn’t keeping it pristine, but having defined trails keeps people on the path and out of the woods.”
Pigg said the grant will be used for trail improvements and some signs marking the paths.
“We’re going to use the entire amount of the grant for the gravel and grading and some signage, so we’re going to get the most we can for the money, which we try to do with everything,” he said. “If there are obstructions in the path of the new trail – a tree that needs to be removed or a culvert pipe that needs to be dealt with – the Parks Department will pay for that. It won’t be taken out of the grant money.”
Pigg said the long-term plans for the area include upgrades to the restroom and the possible addition of playground equipment, but not much else.
“It’s a nature preserve, not a full-service county park,” he said.
The Jefferson County Council voted unanimously Feb. 25 to award a contract for the work at the preserve to Ideal Landscape Construction Inc. of St. Louis County, which submitted the second lowest of eight bids for the job.
Pigg said the lowest bidder did not follow the county’s procedures.
“It’s my understanding they didn’t do all the paperwork,” he said. “They’re a relatively new company.”
Ideal Landscape will charge the county $7.30 per linear foot for the trail, which will be 5 feet wide.
Pigg said the lower-than-anticipated bid will allow for more work than the original plan to expand the current half-mile trail to a mile.
On March 22, he said workers had completed 5,338 feet of trails, and should be able to complete 6,875 feet.
Pigg said at least half of the new gravel trail will be considered Americans With Disabilities Act trail-accessible.
“That doesn’t mean the same as it does for sidewalks and public buildings,” he said, but it will be designed for use by older adults, the wheelchair-bound and those with baby strollers.
“That part will be relatively gentle, and it’s something everyone will be able to enjoy,” he said.
The other half will take advantage of the area’s hilly terrain.
“We’ll have to serpentine the trails up and down hills in the second half. It will be more of a strenuous exercise. It will be a better trail, though, with the switchbacks rather than going straight up and down. Having the switchbacks means less erosion.”
The money for the trail was part of $2.637 million in grants for health-related initiatives the Jefferson Foundation announced in November.
The grant money comes from the $154 million the Mercy health system paid in 2013 when it acquired Jefferson Regional Medical Center (now Mercy Hospital Jefferson) in Crystal City. The foundation began administering the money in 2014 and since then, has awarded more than $35 million.