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31 <br /> Findings/Summary/Opportunities And Constraints <br /> Great Location <br /> Little River Park provides a valued refreshing getaway <br /> to Orange and Durham county residents. Hikers are <br /> rewarded with quiet and solitude,and beautiful river + � <br /> front views.One of the park's greatest strengths is its ! <br /> relative isolation and absence of typical urban noises ' <br /> such as roads and highways. <br /> Interpretive Opportunities r <br /> An extensive number of studies have been conduct- <br /> ed at Little River Park detailing the historical,cultural, 2 <br /> geological,and environmental story of the park.These s ' <br /> reports offer opportunities for developing new inter- <br /> pretative materials to the public,such as additional <br /> interpretative signage, new brochures/maps,and guid- <br /> ed hikes. Additionally,there are numerous historicalDii 4 <br /> amenities on site(packhouse,old mill site)that help tell <br /> the story of the land on which the park now sits. 64 <br /> Site Restrictions _ <br /> There are very restrictive land use requirements in <br /> place that limit future development and park use.These <br /> restrictions need to be taken into consideration when - <br /> considering the proposed facility and program im- <br /> provements.The park would benefit from maintaining Horse Trails <br /> a forested buffer to separate park development from There is a desire among some members of the public <br /> existing residences that border the western edge of the for horse trails within Little River Park.This is not feasi- <br /> park. ble at the current time due to the land restrictions cur- <br /> rently in place as well as not enough land available for <br /> Large Base of Existing Trail Users the desired length of trails within the park boundaries. <br /> The largest user group of the park are trail users(hiking, The possibility exists for the construction of a horse- <br /> biking, running).Work should be done to a) determine back trailhead within the park if adjacent landowners <br /> if any new trails can be added (both for recreation and were to develop a network of horse trails outside park <br /> interpretation) in appropriate areas,b) continue to im- boundaries. Horseback riding trails could be devel- <br /> prove the trail signage system,and c) continue to work oped in the future if more land were acquired for the <br /> with volunteer groups on trail construction and mainte- park,thereby allowing more space to build sustainable <br /> nance projects. horseback traiIs. <br /> Aging Park Infrastructure Additional Programming Potential <br /> Many of the existing park infrastructure—its buildings, The public has shown support for additional program- <br /> parking lot, maintenance shed,playground and oth- ming options at Little River Park and the park could <br /> er structures—are now at least 15 years old and are expand future offerings if the two counties were to <br /> showing wear and tear.Some park buildings have been mutually decide to invest in additional programming. <br /> re-purposed from the preceding farm that was on site <br /> and will require special consideration in their upkeep. <br /> Attention will soon be needed to these important com- <br /> ponents of the park and its operations. <br /> October 2021 19 <br />