Bear Creek Greenway: 1.4-mile segment dedicated

Image credit: Bear Creek Greenway Foundation

Great news for cyclists: the last 1.4 miles connecting Ashland to Central Point via the Bear Creek Greenway was officially dedicated Wednesday.


For the Mail Tribune, Buffy Pollock reported that the trail was funded with $1.7 million in federal transportation dollars, with a 10-percent match from local sources.

Future plans involve connecting Ashland to Grants Pass via the “Rogue River Greenway,” still in early stages of development.

According to Jackson County bicycle and pedestrian planner Jenna Stanke, quoted in the Mail Tribune by Pollock, “The long-term goal is for cyclists to be able to ride from Emigrant Lake all the way to Grants Pass. ...

“People always ask why the trail starts with mile marker 8. It’s because we always intended for the trail to start farther south.”

Pollock noted that the Bear Creek Greenway got its start with state legislation passed in 1973. I appreciate the Greenway for its scenic and peaceful alternative to driving up Interstate 5.