Outdoor enthusiasts getting fun-packed recreation area

Outdoor enthusiasts who enjoy tennis or bicycle motocross will welcome the Whitney Mesa Recreation Area, scheduled to open next month in Henderson.

The recreation area, which has 20 acres of developed park land, will contain the city’s largest bank of public tennis courts and its only dedicated BMX facility.

“This is really probably unlike anything else we have,” said Kim Becker, spokeswoman for the Henderson Parks and Recreation Department.

Henderson has 54 parks, 11 aquatic facilities and seven recreation centers. The Whitney Mesa Recreation Area was funded with more than $14 million generated through the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act.

Whitney Mesa is located between Russell Road and Sunset Road. The first phase of the recreation area, the Whitney Mesa Nature Preserve, opened in September 2009 on Patrick Lane.

Becker said public meetings during the planning phase let staff know many neighborhood residents wanted tennis courts.

Such meetings help give staff “a flavor for the neighbors and what the particular needs are for the neighborhood,” she said.

When completed, the recreation area will have nine full-sized courts and offer four smaller “QuickStart Tennis” courts as part of a United States Tennis Association program designed for children ages 10 and under.

The tennis courts are being constructed near the Whitney Ranch Aquatic Complex on Galleria Drive. The BMX park will be near the north side of the Whitney Ranch Recreation Center, also on Galleria.

Even before the park was developed, bicycle riders were using the land around the aquatic complex and recreation center for their motocross activities.

“Now that they have their place to go, they won’t go where they shouldn’t be,” Becker said. “And it’ll be safer, too. You can’t tell them not to be one place if you don’t have a place for them to go.”

Another feature of the recreation area is a day camp that can be reserved by organizations. The camp, tucked between the recreation facilities on Galleria Drive and the walls of the mesa, has an archery range and amphitheater.

“We really worked to incorporate the new elements into the existing landscape,” park planner Carrie Becker said during a recent tour of the area.

Carrie Becker, who is not related to Kim Becker, has been involved in planning the recreation area for more than three years.

During the tour, she said art sculptures in the day camp were designed to look like “wickiups” and will serve as play areas for visitors. Wickiups are frame huts covered with grass or brush used by nomadic Native Americans.

Known as “Armijo’s Camp,” the day camp also recognizes the historical significance of the area, which is near Duck Creek. According to information provided by Kim Becker, research has shown that Antonio Armijo, credited with pioneering trade on the Old Spanish Trail in the early 1800s, used the Duck Creek route from the Las Vegas Wash area to the valley and likely stopped to rest at Whitney Mesa.

“We’re excited about that,” she said.

Further south on Galleria Drive is the entrance to a neighborhood park with basketball courts, bocce courts, an open turf play area and a group picnic pavilion. It also features a Western-themed play area with stagecoach and horse structures, and a Paiute-themed play area with a wickiup-style climbing structure.

As the sun was setting on a recent afternoon, a group of young men were shooting hoops while a man jogged by the play areas, although the park was not officially open. Kim Becker said the recreation area and its amenities are scheduled to open March 16.

A sign already marks a trail head with a parking area on Sunset Road. From there, visitors will be able to access a 1.2-mile soft-surface trail that has been compacted for easy walking.

According to the city of Henderson website, the goal of the Whitney Mesa Recreation Area project “is to preserve the beauty of the bluffs and canyons as well as the significant view and sensitive ridgeline in the southeastern Las Vegas Valley.”

The Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act, which became law in 1998, allows the Bureau of Land Management to sell public land within a specific boundary around Las Vegas. Some of the revenue derived from land sales is set aside for parks, trails and other natural areas.

According to information provided by Kim Becker, the city of Henderson has received more than $238 million for projects through those land sales.

Pace Contracting Co. built the Whitney Mesa Recreation Area, and J.W. Zunino & Associates handled the landscape architecture. Both are Las Vegas businesses.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.