I was asked at the beginning of the year to be a part of the White Tank Mountain Regional Park Stakeholder Advisory Group. A group of 4 was selected and our task was to help represent avid park users to provide feedback to Maricopa County Parks and Recreation staff (specifically Leigh Johnson, park planner and Raymond Schell, park supervisor) about improvements to the park master plan. The current master plan for White Tank Mountain Regional Park was written back in the 1960’s and doesn’t currently reflect the values or realities of today’s park users. The park staff was interested in updating the plan to current needs and expectations from visitors, resource protection and to provide a framework for the next 20 years of park preservation and development.
White Tank Mountain Regional Park
Our group has met three times for about 2 hours each session over the past 5 months to develop an updated master plan. Our first meeting in March we discussed the current park master plan which called for something like 800 camping sites, 1500 picnic areas and a couple hundred miles of trails. In reality, those needs were never needed and thus not built. Each of us in the advisory group shared our thoughts on what the park needed most and the park staff listened intently.
The second meeting in April, the group was presented with three potential options for planned development and update to the master plan ranging from “no change” to major development of new facilities and trails. We further refined our desires as visitors and users of the park and there was a public meeting scheduled.
Our final meeting was today which culminated from many months of hard work by the park planner Leigh Johnson and park supervisor Raymond Schell. They presented a draft master plan to the group which placed a low, medium and high priority on a variety of recommended park improvements divided into several categories including: Developing New Facilities, Maintaining/Rehabilitating Existing Facilities, Education/Interpretation, Administrative and Resource Protection. I thought the plan was very thorough and comprehensive, taking into consideration many different concerns including visitor needs, wildlife corridors, overall park development, erosion, and neighboring land partnerships.
White Tank Regional Park draft master plan map
The cool thing about the proposed plan is many of the ideas I brought to the table including those suggestions made from the trail running community are included in the draft master park plan. I’d like to share a few of those that are most exciting:
1. Restroom & Shower at the Competitive Track (High Priority) – There is a proposal to build a bathroom and shower facility out at the competitive track which would be excellent for events such as the Vertigo Night Runs and Cactus Cha Cha which are held out there. This new structure would also provide electricity in the future.
2. Trail Connector from competitive track to Ironwood (High Priority) – Another suggestion I made was to build a trail (which is estimated to be about 0.6 miles long) to connect the competitive track parking lot with the Ironwood Trail, leading to the rest of the park’s trail system. This will allow for the potential to start an event like the Mesquite Canyon Trail Runs at the competitive track eliminating the need for remote parking.
3. New facility / trailhead / trails at “North White Tanks” off of 243rd Avenue (Medium Priority) – White Tank Mountain Regional Park is actually very large, but trails currently only are signed and developed on about 1/2 of the land – all to the East. A North trailhead is in the plan along with a future new trail system.
4. Trail connection from Mesquite to Goat Camp (Medium Priority) – The group suggested some connector trails which would allow for more variety in loops in the mountain range. There is a planned connector between Mesquite and Goat Camp which would cut across lower down in the mountains.
5. Trail connector from Willow to Ford Canyon Trail (Medium Priority) – A similar trail is proposed to connect Willow to lower Ford Canyon, providing a future option for a great loop up the Mesquite Trail, across this new connector and back down to the parking area.
6. Expanded parking areas (High Priority) – Parking areas are planned to be expanded across the park including at the Waterfall Trailhead and Area 4 Ramada Way where the Mesquite Canyon Trail starts.
7. Connection to Skyline Regional Park (Low Priority) – A future trail connection will be made to Buckeye’s Skyline Regional Park which is directly to the South of White Tank Mountain Regional Park providing many more miles of trails when they are built and developed.
Close up of draft master plan map (new trail connectors are in red)
The draft master plan will be presented at a public meeting at White Tank Mountain Regional Park Nature Center / Library on Saturday, September 7, 2013 at 10:30am. If you are interested in seeing these types of projects move forward in the future at the park or have any other feedback, please attend and voice your support to park staff. The master plan will need to be presented to the parks commission for approval before these improvements and proposed projects are carried out. Public opinion is very much valued and park staff would love to have you out there!
More information about the meeting can be found here: http://www.maricopa.gov/parks/white_tank/wtproject.aspx