On Monday, November 30, the Temple Parks & Leisure Services Department dedicated the City of Temple’s newest trail. The Pepper Creek Hike & Bike Trail, designed by KPA, is not only an amenity to serve the bioscience district and the Scott and White West Campus, but also a fantastic new resource to help members of the Temple community to get fit and stay active.
The Pepper Creek Trail was created as a project of Temple’s Reinvestment Zone Board. It is approximately 1.2 miles long and features benches, metal-framed bridge and a large water feature and goes through the natural wooded area. “We are really excited about what the trail offers our community,” Parks & Leisure Services Director Ken Cicora said. “I’ve spoken with a number of residents who have already walked the trail, and everyone is extremely impressed.”
The trail is unique to Temple in a few other ways. At twelve feet, it is easily the widest trail in the City, making it ideal for not just hikers but also bicycles, strollers and more. “We imagine that this trail is going to be used by a lot of Temple families,” Cicora said. “It is really designed for a broad range of physical abilities, and it offers a number of great places to take a break and enjoy the view.”
The Pepper Creek Trail was constructed within an approximate budget of $2.1 million. “It’s set a new standard for trails in Temple,” David Patrick of KPA said. “We’ve done a lot of work in Central Texas, and I would say this is over and beyond what we’ve done even in Austin or Round Rock.”
