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Happy Trails

The Anthem East Trailhead Project

The Anthem Trails proposal before the December Board was supposed to be a slam-dunk, that is, until homeowners heard about the plans and saw the City's presentation. Apparently no one except for members of the Hiking Club and the Board knew about the City’s trailhead improvement plans to be constructed on common element land owned by Sun City. Upon hearing an outcry from a few uninformed residents—who were taken by surprise, the Board’s enthusiasm for the project appeared to dwindle, but only momentarily. The City was requesting an easement to construct at their cost a trailhead feature where the Anthem East Trails begins on Shadow Canyon Dr., just off Somersworth Dr., where our new recreation center is currently under construction.

The lack of sufficient parking was of primary concern to some nearby homeowners, fearing that the new addition would draw too many hikers to the area for the available off-street parking spaces (5-6 cars). Concerns raised by other homeowners included the absence of drinking water and a bathroom facility, amenities, by the way, while potentially desirable in a park environment, are not commonly provided in such cases or at other trailhead stations.

Another concern was that the close proximity of the trailhead entrance to the new recreation center's parking lot would attract more non-resident day hikers to the area, as well as more of the several hundred members of the Hiking Club--factors that were not taken into consideration in the design of the recreation center's parking lot.

To better inform the Community of what is being planned, included below are a number of photos and exhibits about the area and the City’s trailhead plans.

WHERE IS THIS PROJECT LOCATED?

In the split-color map below, you can readily visualize the location of our new recreation center #3 complex at corner of Somersworth Dr. and Shadow Canyon Dr. and south of Roseburg Way.

In a similar manner, you can visualize the location of the nearby Anthem East Trailhead on the east side of Shadow Canyon within the “white” Sun City common element area between lots #2268 on the north and #2304 to the south. The visible line bisecting the common element area (to the north and to the south of Shadow Canyon) is actually a paved roadway for utility vehicles. The paved portion of the Anthem trail starts at Shadow Canyon and ends at the detention basin about a 1/4 mile to the southeast. Beyond the detection basis, the Anthem trail continues unpaved for several miles as shown in the trail map. A map of the Anthem trail system can be accessed by Clicking on the Link at the bottom of this page.

The picture below shows the frontage on Shadow Canyon Dr. and the entrance to the parking lot of the Anthem East Trailhead. The yellow gate (right of center) allows access to utility vehicles servicing the detention basin. You can see the paved roadway trailing off to the right of the picture. Two cars are parked in the trailhead's parking area.

A different view of the trailhead location looking southwest along Shadow Canyon Dr. As one can see, there are no homes situated in the immediate vicinity of the trailhead entrance south and west along Shadow Canyon Dr.

WHAT IS THE CITY PLANNING TO BUILD?

In lieu of less informative construction drawings, the City has provided some photos of a similar trailhead improvement at a different location.

Here is a photo of a trails plaque that the City would insall. The plaque will provide hikers with helpful information about the Anthem East Trail System as well as a map of the trail.

WHAT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE?

Here are two Park Department .pdf documents of interest to Sun City homeowners. The first is a Fact Sheet on the Anthem East Trail System and the second is a map of the trail system.

Fact Sheet

Map of the Anthem Trail System (a large file that can be zoomed)

Ron Johnson, 6 December 2007