Changes & upgrades at Eden State Gardens

[Kurt]

A new entrance road is nearly ready for paving. Instead of entering at the end of Gilmore Road past Bay Elementary, the new entrance will be just before Gilmore Road off of Scenic Highway 395 North.

The old entrance at the end of Gilmore Road, and the old gate at Eden Gardens Road will be closed to vehicle traffic into and out of the park, however a pedestrian gate will be maintained at the location of the old brick and iron gate.

There will be a connector for local vehicle traffic between Eden Gardens Road and Gilmore Road but it will be outside of the park fence.

In addition to the new entrance, which winds through beautiful old-growth oaks, pines and magniolias, there will be a new ranger station, picnic facilities, a dock, nature trail, and a boat launch on Tucker Bayou for non-motorized boats.

More info at www.friendsofedengardens.org

 

[Jdarg]

We were wondering about that new road! Thanks for the info~

 

[ShallowsNole]

I haven't had a chance to walk the new road. Please tell me they did leave the oak hammock intact...it looks like they did from Kurt's pictures.

 

[Matt J]

Thanks, have been wondering about that new road for a while now.

SN, it looks to be pretty covered from the road.

 

[Kurt]

I haven't had a chance to walk the new road. Please tell me they did leave the oak hammock intact...it looks like they did from Kurt's pictures.

Some of the neighbors in the Historic Point Washington Association went by early and helped them mark trees for saving. Some of the most impressive are giant longleaf pines.

 

[ShallowsNole]

I knew they were supposed to; I just didn't know if they did. I know than Van Ness and Albert were critically interested in keeping the old oaks intact, as that was one of the reasons they chose to sell that land to the State instead of turning it into subdivisions.

The large pines are cool too. My father and my aunts used to tell me that, big as some may be, there are no "original" pine trees in the area as the timber industry at the turn of the century pretty much clear-cut all of them - and much of the land that road runs on was in the Strickland family for years.

I will have to check it out on Sunday!