By Priscilla Lister
A trail traverses the canyon from the dead end of Maple Street at Dove Street in Midtown to the Quince Street Trestle bridge between Third and Fourth avenues. It’s an easy walk that takes less than an hour round-trip. You’ll be viewing lots of history along with magnificent trees. The eucalyptus alone are worth the walk — it’s said that Kate Sessions was responsible for the early plantings in this canyon around 1911, so those trees are nearing 100 years old.
You’ll also experience two historic bridges in this canyon. The Quince Street Trestle, a wooden pedestrian-only footbridge, was built in 1905 to connect the community of Bankers Hill with the streetcar that used to run along Fourth Avenue.
The wooden bridge nearly faced demolition in the late 1980s when its deterioration threatened its continuation. Termites and dry rot forced its closure in 1987.
But local resident Elinor Meadows organized a movement to declare it historic — which the San Diego Historical Society’s Site Board did — and it was restored and reopened in 1990.
It’s a lovely wooden bridge that has inspired proposals and other special rendezvous over the last century.
As you walk from the trestle into Maple Canyon, you’ll walk under the other historic bridge — First Avenue Bridge, a hinged truss arch steel bridge built in 1931 under the Improvement Act of 1911. It was originally known as the Peoples Bridge since it was erected by demands of local property owners.
Today the First Avenue Bridge is closed to vehicle traffic as it undergoes seismic retrofitting by the city. The project was approved in 2007 and will include restoration of the bridge to its original 1931 appearance — “railings and light standards will be reconstructed and the structure will be painted with the original bronze color,” according to city records. Rain delays have affected its completion, which is now slated for the end of January 2010, according to the city’s engineering department.
Al Weiss, who lives in a condominium that looks into Maple Canyon, agrees it is beautiful. “But what bothers me most is the erosion there,” he said. “Street drainage is pushed into the area.”
While there have been clean-up events in Maple Canyon in recent years — and I saw very little trash there, especially considering its inner-city location — this canyon is still available for adoption through I Love A Clean San Diego’s Adopt-A-Beach program (inland areas are now included).
Volunteer opportunities include clean-up projects, invasive plant removal, habitat enhancement and trail maintenance. If you’d like to get involved, contact Ranger Jason Allen of the city’s Parks & Recreation Department’s Open Space Canyons unit at (619) 235-5262, or check the I Love A Clean San Diego Web site’s Adopt-A-Beach program, www.adoptsd.org.
There are few treasures in Uptown more deserving of attention than Maple Canyon.
