PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA – The Adamson-Catino Trail is finally ready to open. There will be a dedication ceremony for the long-anticipated Green Valley trail this Saturday, Jan. 22, at 10 a.m.
The ceremony will be held at Canoa Preserve Park, located at 3500 S. Camino De La Canoa in Green Valley, where the trail begins.
“This is a terrific trail,” said Steve Anderson, planning division manager at Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation. “From the park, it crosses the Santa Cruz River, then connects to the 1,200-mile Juan Bautista De Anza National Historic Trail, so it’s really something special.”
The trail is named for two well-known bicycling advocates in the Green Valley area. One of them, Bill Adamson, will be speaking at the dedication ceremony.
“Bill came to me with the concept of linking up the Anza Trail with Canoa Preserve Park with a new trail,” Anderson said. “He’s one of our great bicycle advocates in the Green Valley area.”
The trail’s other namesake is Chuck Catino, a former member of the Pima County Parks Advisory Board who died in 2014. Catino was instrumental in the establishment of Canoa Preserve Park, tirelessly working to raise the money needed to fund it, Anderson said.
About 70 percent of the Adamson-Catino Trail crosses a pecan grove that is owned by the Farmers Investment Company (FICO), which agreed to a public easement that would allow the trail to be constructed on their property. FICO President and CEO Richard S. Walden will be speaking at the event.
“We owe FICO an enormous ‘thank you’ for partnering with us on this project,” Anderson said. “They really went above and beyond.”
Along with permitting the easement, FICO helped with preparation of the new trail, including grading the trail and trimming trees and bushes. They also added interpretive signs to inform trail users about the pecan growing process, as well as signs that honored Adamson and Catino for their role in the trail’s creation.
The trail also crosses under a Union Pacific Railroad line west of Canoa Preserve Park. Anderson said the railroad agreed to an easement that would allow the crossing on the condition that Pima County take precautions to protect users of the trail.
“We placed a canopy that extends approximately 30 feet from each side of the train tracks that will keep trail users safe,” Anderson said.
Funding for the trail was provided by Pima County and the Freeport-McMoRan Foundation, who contributed $40,000 to the project.