Taking the Scenic Route

Healthy Shasta Walking Maps…

Healthy Shasta’s aim is to create a more walkable community, and one way to encourage people to get out and moving around is with its new Downtown Redding Walking Maps. Thanks to a grant by the Upstate California Creative Corps initiated through Viva Downtown Redding, Healthy Shasta along with the City of Redding, Visit Redding and mapmaker Tyler Brown Cifu Shuster were able to get together and make these maps happen.

“We had a committee, knew we wanted to do some walking maps, and this was one of the objectives of the grant,” says Healthy Shasta Community Education Specialist Sara Sundquist. The committee had been talking about ways to regenerate arts in the community after COVID as well as figure out a way to pay artists for their work. They batted around ideas that would highlight points of interest, engage and get people exploring Downtown Redding. Generating tangible, creative walking maps seemed like it would hit all points. “We mapped out the themes we wanted to accomplish and then it took shape from there,” Sundquist says.

Redding resident/artist/mapmaker Shuster came up with a unique style to match the four maps, which include the two-mile Downtown Redding Historical Walking Map, the 1.75-mile Mural Walking Map, the 2.6-mile Calaboose Creek Walking Map and the 2-mile Downtown Redding to Trail Connections Walking Map.

For instance, the Historical Map has a beige/red brick old-timey weathered look and has 18 historical businesses on it that include everything from the Lorenz Hotel and Jack’s Grill to the Frisbie House (one of Redding’s oldest buildings established in 1887). Healthy Shasta hosted a guided walk with speakers from the Shasta Historical Society who generously narrated it, adding to the accuracy and knowledge of Redding’s past.

The Mural Map has 18 points marked between Eureka Way and Pine Street with icons giving a preview as to what one might see walking by that spot. Designed in conjunction with the Shasta County Arts Council, murals such as the Great Blue Herons, Electric Alley and Jackie’s Wish dot the route. “The more art that is there, the more that starts popping up. People want to go to a place that shows a sense of pride and beauty,” Sundquist says.

While Sundquist believes that the most interest has been in the Mural map, the Calaboose Creek arguably attracted the most people when the map came out. “That’s an area that people weren’t really aware of,” says Sundquist. Every time Healthy Shasta introduced a new map, they planned a guided walk for it, and 55 people came to the Calaboose Creek Walking Map release. The Calaboose Creek Walk is a good one to do in the winter or spring when the water is flowing, and on the April guided walk, the group saw a muskrat and ducks. “It piqued people’s interest and it was a nice night to do the Calaboose Creek Walk. It’s not the most beautiful, but it is the most interesting,” Sundquist says.

The Downtown Redding to Trail Connections Walk is also good for those who want to explore a little farther, with stops at Turtle Bay, Lake Redding, Whistle Stop Park and the Hilltop Drive trailhead.
“Tyler used trail signage to create a map that had an outdoor look and feel. I enjoy all the maps, but I love the trails system one,” says Sundquist. At the Trail Connections guided May walk, she adds, “one woman on the walk had never been on the Diestelhorst Bridge and she had lived here for years. We watched a beautiful sunset from the bridge.”

Going into the Walktober Challenge, Healthy Shasta hopes people will be inspired by these maps and do the walks on their own. “People can sign up at Healthy Shasta’s website. It works best for teams of four…it builds camaraderie, and is a way to connect with others and enjoy the cooler weather,” Sundquist says. “It’s something almost everyone can participate in.” •

www.healthyshastawalks.org
www.vivadowntownredding.org