Inaugural Hike at Indian River Park

We had a great turnout for our inaugural hike on the new nature trail in Indian River Park.   A big thank you to all the groups who made this possible including City of Chesapeake's Department of Parks and Recreation, the Urban Forest Trail Blazers, the Chesapeake Master Gardeners, the Virginia Cooperative Extension – Hampton Roads Master Gardeners, the Chesapeake Arboretum and the Eastern Virginia Mountain Bike Association, and all the great volunteers of the Friends of Indian River.

For more information about the park and the nature trail, see our new pages about the park under the Resources Tab:
- Park Info
- Native Trees of Indian River Park

On December 7th, we'll be back in the park to work on the removal of invasive English ivy.   Come on out and lend a hand.   For our full listing of upcoming events see our calendar.

Update: Mary Reid Barrow's article on the hike is now online at http://hamptonroads.com/2013/11/coastal-journal-big-trees-are-draw-indian-river-nature-trail

Tree signs installed in Indian River Park

The Friends of Indian River and the Urban Forest Trail Blazers were out in force today to install signage along the new nature trail in Indian River Park.   With beautiful weather and great enthusiasm, the team installed 25 tree identification signs and 6 directional posts along the trail.   The trail is now open for exploration and we've scheduled a guided hike on Saturday, November 9th at 10 am.   We hope you can join us.

Successful Mulching of Indian River Park Nature Trail

The Parks and Recreation Department and our volunteers were out in force on Wednesday and completed mulching the 300 yard central section of the nature trail in Indian River Park.   The Parks Department used "gators" to haul load after load of mulch into the park and our hard working volunteers, and Lennie Luke - Senior Planner from the Parks Department - unloaded and spread the mulch along the trail.   It was a hard six hours of work, but the job was completed.

There will be NO trail work this Saturday, 10/19.   Our next work effort will be on Saturday 10/26 when we install the tree signs.    Come out and join us; rsvp to info@friendsofindianriver.org

See more photos at

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.600248516707170.1073741830.115427591855934&type=1

Thank you to volunteers for Nature Trail Work!

We extend a big thank you to the volunteers from the Chesapeake Trailblazers and the Friends of Indian River who came out in the rain today to work on the new nature trail in Indian River Park.   The team completed the planned work to widen the trail.  The next step is on Wednesday when the City will come out to help spread mulch on the center section of the trail.

You may find more photos on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.597388173659871.1073741829.115427591855934&type=1
(no Facebook account required to view photos).

Indian River Park Nature Trail

There has been great progress on our plans for establishing a nature trail in Indian River Park.   We've been consulting with the Eastern Virginia Mountain Bike Association - Southside on trail alignment and back in April we submitted a formal proposal to the City of Chesapeake Parks and Recreation Department.   The proposal was well received and now the Parks and Recreation Department is looking to allocate funds from their Open Space budget for improvements to the park entrance area at Rokeby Ave. and Main St.

Our plans include converting a section of trail along the riparian flood zone of the Indian River inside the park into a mulched nature trail, complete with tree identification markers, benches, and some interpretive signs.   We are looking to the city to improve the entrance area by establishing an improved permeable surface parking area, adding picnic benches, an information kiosk, and bike rack.  To this we would add a  demonstration native plant and/or rain garden.   We are also looking to improve the signage and pathways around the Paramount Ave. entrance by the power lines.

We see this project providing improved access to natural open space for the community and a renewed interest by the city in the significance of the park.  It will also provide a venue that can be used by scouts, school groups, and others to learn about native vegetation and the benefits of preserving a healthy and interconnected habitat for fish, birds, and other wildlife.

Our goal is to establish the nature trail this year and have the entrance area improvements complete by the spring.   We're going to need a lot of volunteers to help with building the trail and establishing the other features.  Please contact us at info@friendsofindianriver.org if you are interested in participating or if you have any questions.