Neighbor Joe Thomas call our attention to things afoot in the park up the hill.
The San Francisco Department of Recreation and Parks will hold a meeting about trail improvements on Bernal Hill, tonight (1/25) at 6 pm in the library on Cortland.
The Recreation and Park Department is hosting a series of community meetings to discuss future trail restoration improvements to the Bernal Heights Trail.
Your input is important and will help us to improve the Bernal Heights Trail in a way that is most beneficial to the community.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Project Excerpt: Bernal Hill rises out of the Mission District, offering 360-degree views of San Francisco and the bay. This grassland has outstanding wildflower displays in spring, and provides abundant hunting grounds for hawks, owls, and coyotes. The Urban Trails Program will improve access and safety throughout Bernal Hill by routing trails away from cliffs and unstable terrain while continuing to provide access to multiple points of interest. To the extent possible, trails will be realigned to grades of 10 percent or less. Park entry points and trailheads will be clearly marked by plants and wayfinding signs.
Joe also points out that this project is budgeted to cost $750,000 (!!!). In the handbill below, note also that future meetings are still to come”
PHOTO: Daniel Ramirez.
Bernalwood 
PLEASE don’t change anything! The un-planned nature of the trails are what make a Bernal walk so casual, adventurous, informal. Imagine the guided open space experience that will happen once it’s ‘fixed’.
I particularly enjoy the flyer’s indication that the meeting will be on “Courtland” street. Where is that, anyway?
I agree with Jake. The joy of Bernal Hill is that it is an unplanned experience that has emerged organically. No need to “organize”, “improve”, restore”. In fact the City opens itself up to liability once it decides to manage trails; the clueless wanderer who manages to trip or slide on our treacherous red chert will now have someone to blame. Just address the erosion issues at the steps on the north side, find an innovative security solution to illegal dumping, prettify the entrances, AND invest in new dog waste management systems à la “Ashpoopie” http://ashpoopie.com/products.html.
Guess I’ll be going to the next meeting…
The “leave things alone” view was well represented at the meeting. The Rec & Parks folks came with slides of things they’d done at other parks, but without any plans on what to do here. They took notes on suggestions from the attendees — mostly having to do with erosion and trail safety. We were told the slides and meeting notes will be posted on the Rec & Parks website soon, and that we’d be sent a link. (I’ll pass it along, of course.)
Next meeting, February 22, should have some design options. Meghan Tiernan, the project manager, got a laugh at the end of the meeting when she said something like “we don’t have enough money to do what you’re afraid we’re going to do.”
Thanks Joe! And thanks for keeping us in the loop on this.
Joe, thank you for the update. Isn’t BernalWood the best forum ever?!
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