Eagle Scout candidate Nathan Butler presenting to the Riverside City Council; photo by Joe Cerwinske

Nathan Butler is a boy scout from Riverside, and as part of his journey to become an Eagle Scout, he’s taken on a project to improve the city’s hiking trail. Butler presented his plan to the Riverside City Council, who agreed to help him. The project includes three parts, the first being a series of bulletin and information boards. Butler explains there will be two bulletin boards, one placed at the trailhead near River Street, one at a central location to be determined, and two information boards on the trail itself. The bulletin boards will be primarily used for announcements of community events, such as Trekfest. The information boards will contain details about the history of the area and the local flora and fauna.

The second part is the placement of mile markers along the trail to make it easier for people using it to plan exercises. Butler explains, “Most of the other trails around have mile markers. Trails we’d hiked in scouts have mile markers every half mile or so. And I run the (Riverside) trail in cross country, and it didn’t have any mile markers. So it’s harder to tell where to turn around if you want to just run a mile on the trail.” The final part of the project is the creation of a picnic area, and the city is looking into donating a picnic table. Butler says the service project needed to be for an organization not affiliated with scouts, and money has to come completely from his fundraising efforts. He’s hoping the trail improvements will be completed by Trekfest.