A Hidden Wildlife Sanctuary in the Heart of Phoenix

  

         Imagine you jogging, bike riding, or simply taking a leisurely walk in a place that is lush, green and full of life. I found a place just like this in the heart of Phoenix, the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Park. This park is a 600- acre park featuring wetlands and wildlife, including jack rabbits, javelinas, beavers, muskrats, coyotes, snakes, lizards, dragonflies, fish and over two hundred bird species. It includes a five mile lush riparian corridor with paved and dirt trails dotted with a unique design; these trails were designed for walking, jogging, biking, equestrian hikers and are also wheel chair friendly. This habitat restoration area not only protects and offers a home to many native species and plants; it also welcomes the community by encouraging participation through various activities while being completely sustainable.

         As a mother of three young children and on a budget I am always looking for inexpensive and cool parks to take my kids to keep them active. When I consider visiting a park I consider the following criteria:

· Is it attractive?

· Is it welcoming?

· Are there activities available?

· How accessible is it from where I live?

       I love visiting and exploring new places but visiting a place with Arizona history behind it is always a plus. I take this as an opportunity to teach my kids about our beautiful state. As a Phoenix native I am proud of my state and city and enjoy passing my knowledge down to my kids, I feel this is very important. My family and I love the outdoors and take advantage of any opportunity we have to be outside no matter how hot it gets, and it can get pretty hot in Phoenix! Our friends and family refer to us as the "Desert Rat Mendoza's". We embrace it and live up to the name!

      With that said, three years ago my husband Angel suggested we visit the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Park located in South Phoenix. He heard really good things about this place and encouraged that we visit. I'll have to be completely honest; I wasn’t very enthused about the idea at all. I thought this place was a dry river bed where people dumped their trash. I couldn’t imagine this place was as beautiful as he had described. But I am a pretty open minded person who is always up for a new adventure and decided to judge for myself. We arrived there and within a few minutes of exploring this place, I fell in love! Since that day, the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Park is one of my favorite places to visit.

History 

         When we left the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Park I was intrigued and wanted to find out more about how this place that was once an eyesore in the city came to be so wonderful and full of life. I conducted some online research, I found out that Phoenix's 

Before restoration (Audubon, 2013)

growth was developed around the Rio Salado River during pre-Columbian times; the Hohokam's, a native tribe created a series of canal systems used to irrigate their crops. At the beginning of the 20th century the building of the dams by the Salt and Verde Rivers allowed consistent year round water supply to the city of Phoenix; the demand for water was less and the Salt River became a dry riverbed and urban eyesore used as dumping ground and populated by homeless. (DeSemple, 2006)

        The Rio Salado Habitat Restoration was a project designed to be an ongoing effort to restore the native wetland and riparian habitats. The ultimate goal of the project was to improve the aesthetics and functional properties of the blighted river bed area by restoring native wetlands and habitats, add recreational and educational uses while maintaining the essential flood control and creating an ecosystem that supports both the flora and fauna.

       The Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Park is now a very attractive and welcoming park. I always feel welcomed by the tranquility and peace that I feel when I enter the beautiful lush trails. It has become my favorite place to exercise, explore and learn. Being able to be so close to the many animals that roam the area makes me feel closer to nature in a way that I just can’t describe. In a recent conversation I had with Shannon, a co-worker she expressed how wonderful it is to have a place like the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Park, “I am so happy that there is a place for all the little animals to survive, especially in the heat of Arizona. Until this park was created, that area was so bad and the surrounding wildlife had nowhere to go.”(personal communication, June 4, 2013).

My daughters and I went on a little adventure just last Saturday and we truly enjoyed our walk/hike, I can never get enough of nature! My girls were super excited; they have visited many times before and were looking forward to seeing the animals roam freely through the park. We pulled in at the entrance located on the Central bridge corridor around 4:00 p.m.; the temperature was still pretty hot at 105 Degrees Fahrenheit. But we were prepared with plenty of water, lots of sunscreen and of course our camera. You never know what you will run into!

We began our little journey into what I call a wildlife sanctuary. We started our walk through a paved trail and within minutes we witnessed a jackrabbit run across the trail into some bushes, my girls screamed of excitement. With all the commotion other rabbits began moving

through the bushes, I guess they felt the excitement too! As we continued to explore we ran into a pond, there were other people nearby absorbing the sun rays and relaxing on a bench. We hung out for while admiring a momma duck and her ducklings following behind who were swimming carelessly in the pond. We continued our exploration and soon jumped on a dirt trail that was beautifully marked with river rock. The river rock trails were very inviting, guiding us through the park with winding motions. As we walked I could hear birds chirping everywhere, birds were flying from tree to tree and we could see very closely the birds nests. As we walked, we noticed a sign that read 'Waterfall' and we followed the trail, we reached an area full of trees and we could hear the sound of trickling water over rocks and as we turned a corner we witnessed a beautiful small waterfall that was surrounded by large trees. Right under the trees and next to the waterfall was a bench built out of recycled concrete, since we had been walking for some time we decided to take a break and enjoy the sounds of nature for a few moments. We decided it was time to continue our journey and took another path, we found ourselves walking into what looked like a tunnel. This "tunnel" was a trail almost completely surrounded by large green native trees.

         As we walked into this long trail we saw the most wonderful multi color butterflies flying all around us, my girls couldn't believe it.  We witnessed a gorgeous aqua blue dragonfly that must have been at least 3-4 inches long, several humming birds from a very close distance and various lizards climbing through the trees. Because this pathway was surrounded by trees, the temperature was much cooler and walking through it was very pleasurable and it provided some relief from the heat. After about an hour and a half we decided it was time to go home, as we walked the trails we continued to see and hear the different wildlife freely flying and running through the park. When I am there I feel of sense of calmness and serenity that I don't get anywhere else.

Activities

         The Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Park offers free or low cost educational activities for children and adults to learn about riparian ecosystems and to encourage community participation in the project through the Audubon Center; a facility located in the heart of the park. The Audubon Arizona's mission is, "Connecting people with nature using science, education, and advocacy to protect Arizona's birds and wildlife and their habitats."(Audubon, 2013) They do this through the various activities they offer to the community...and did I mention most events are free or very low cost! 

         They offer numerous educational events but I have only attended two of them. I attended the Bird Walk class several months ago, this class thought me how to recognize the various birds that roam around in our own backyards. Our field guide made our morning very enjoyable; he answered all of our questions and made it a very entertaining and educational experience. I learned how to distinguish a bird based on the sounds they make by comparing to a checklist provided to us. In our Bird Walk we covered two miles of the riparian area at a leisurely pace. Some of the birds we saw and heard that day were the ash-throated flycatcher, neotropic cormorant, osprey, double-crested cormorant and the pied-billed grebe to name a few. Our guide noted more than 35 species that morning. I have also attended the, Conservation Work Days, a program designed for people who want to make a difference. I helped prepare a pollinator garden, cleaned up the river bed and removed invasive plants while interacting with really nice people that like me want to make a difference and keep this beautiful place looking great.

            Activities for children are also available. My son’s classroom took a field trip this past spring; River Connection: Water’s Changing Journey. A fieldtrip where teachers can choose from a variety of standards aligned nature and ecology lessons that support classroom curriculum. Topics include: birds, mammals, water in the desert, history of the Salt River, native plants and powers of observation. (Audubon, 2013)

(Audubon, 2013)

 Other Parks in Phoenix

         The Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Park is unlike any other park I have visited in Arizona. There are many recreational parks in the Valley for example the Rio Vista located in Peoria AZ, this park offers numerous recreation activities like fishing, skating, sports, and also a fitness center but many of these activities require paying a membership. It is always so crowded with people that I don’t feel I am there to relax. Their parking area is located in between the recreation areas and I am always on the lookout for crazy careless drivers. Another example is the Papago Park located in the east part of Phoenix, this park offers desert trails along natural attractions but it’s very “dry” there aren’t many shady trees or shade unless you are lucky enough to get a ramada. The surrounding attractions are the Desert Botanical Gardens and the Phoenix Zoo but again these are places you have to pay some pretty hefty fees to enter. No other park in the Phoenix and the surrounding areas encourage wildlife conservation while allowing visitors to be a part of the restoration process.

Convenience

        The Rio Salado Habitat Park is very conveniently located in the heart of Phoenix, I like to describe it as a hidden wildlife sanctuary in the middle of the city; it is only 2 miles south of Downtown Phoenix with four easy to access parking areas. The surrounding neighbors can also get there by walking or riding a bike.

        All trailhead-parking areas are open from sunrise to sunset, or to 7 p.m.; whichever comes first seasonally. (City of Phoenix, 2013)

• • 2439 S. Central Ave. (Northeast corner)
  • 3212 S. 7th Ave. (Southwest corner)
  • 2801 S. 7th Ave. (Equestrian Staging)
  • 2875 S. 7th St. (Southeast corner)
  • 3203 S. 16th St. (Southeast corner) 

        While visiting Rio Salado, please remember that the area is a habitat restoration project; remain on designated trails, do not enter the ponds or river channel, remove rocks or flowers, disturb wildlife, throw rocks into ponds, and keep dogs on leashes on the hard surface (asphalt trails). (City of Phoenix, 2013)

       Please note that leashed dogs are allowed on the hard surface (asphalt) trails only. The primary goal of the project is to re-establish sensitive riparian habitat that disappeared from the Valley decades ago. Please do your part to allow the habitat to thrive and grow by keeping your dog on a leash and removing and properly disposing of all pet waste. (City of Phoenix, 2013)

       I hope that if you visit Phoenix you take some time to visit the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Park. This wildlife oasis located on the heart of Phoenix is very attractive, welcoming and offers many educational and recreational activities while enhancing the aesthetics of the city and functionality of the riverbed. I urge you to please stay hydrated, wear breathable clothing, comfortable shoes, and always, always bring water and use plenty of sunscreen! The temperatures in the Phoenix area can reach up to 120 Degrees Fahrenheit and it can be very easy to become dehydrated. I hope you enjoy this sanctuary as much as I do!

Sources

Audubon Rio Salado. (2013). Homepage. Retrieved June 12, 2013,

       from http://riosalado.audubon.org/

City of Phoenix. (2013). Homepage. Retrieved June 12, 2013,

       from http://phoenix.gov/parks/trails/locations/riosalado/index.html

DeSemple, D. (2006). Rio Salado Environmental Restoration Project. Retrieved

       from http://acwi.gov/swrr/Rpt_Pubs/wef06_session36/Rio-Salado-224.pdf

  

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