Elk Grove’s central park, The Preserve, opens Saturday with trails, fitness areas and more
The Preserve, Elk Grove’s sprawling new park in the center of the city, debuts Saturday.
The 28-acre, $15 million nature area at Big Horn Boulevard and Civic Center Drive will be part of Elk Grove’s District 56 recreation hub, home to the city’s recreation center, veterans hall, aquatic center and the Senior Center of Elk Grove.
An 11 a.m. grand opening will officially greet visitors to the park.
The mid-city greenspace includes a mile-long trail loop that winds along the park’s nearly 30 acres, an open meadow, a 4-acre pond, fitness area, picnic sites and a small amphitheater. Construction began in July 2020 on the park, the latest of more than 100 parks across the city.
A $3 million Land Water Conservation Fund grant from California State Parks helped fund the park project. Funding from the National Fitness Campaign, the San Francisco-based fitness initiative to bring free outdoor fitness to cities across the country, also helped provide the park’s fitness court.
A playground with an area for pre-kindergarten children and another for older children is joined by “The Sensory Plaza,” which includes a touch wall, tunnel and three-dimensional tiles.
The nature area also incorporates habitat for burrowing owls, bats and bird nesting areas on the islands scattered across the pond along with the cluster of sycamore and sawleaf trees and the forest of native oak on the park’s grounds.
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 1:02 PM.
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