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THE ALUM CREEK TRAIL | GOING NORTH: NEXT SECTION | GOING SOUTH: NEXT SECTION | 
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The trail continues south from the previous section: Nelson to Livingston Description.
Once across Livingston Ave (signalized) the trail passes along between the I-70 exit ramp on the west and the Alum Creek on the east side going over a new long trail bridge. It rises up slightly in a lightly wooded area with the freeway on the right side. It curves east and passes by a path to an old metal creek bridge (private) and goes along the wooded east side of a large pond.
On the south side it follows the edge of the pond and passes between this and another large pond and turns south again with the pond to the left and the freeway to the right side. Once past this pond, the trail heads into the woods and meanders south for about a mile until it comes to the underpass of I-70
It drops down and passes under the freeway and then rise and curls around to pass over the Alum Creek via a trail bridge. It runs briefly along the south side of the freeway until it reaches College Ave / US 33 where it turns south and follows that roadway on the eastern side. The Water's Edge complex is also on that side. When it reaches Petzinger, it is necessary to go up that road a bit to pass around existing traffic calming islands that block a direct cross. On the south side, the trail resumes. It drops again and passes through a somewhat narrow walkway under a railroad bridge and the rises up and runs along the roadway again with a new retaining wall on the east side. About fifty yards along, it turns west (right) into an area of parklands and makes a run west and then south through this previously little used park until it reaches the Alum Creek as it passes under SR104. The trail passes under the highway on the east side and then curves left (east) and rises up a little more sharply running along SR104 briefly before turning south again where it connects with the recently-built spur trail between the Oxbow Loop in the northern end of Three Creeks Metro Park and Alum Creek Drive. The Alum Creek trail route goes left (east) and continues through the park. (See: Three Creeks Metropark)
A little hard to form an definite opinion since it hasn't existed as a whole until recently. In general, though it is sort of defined by busy thoroughfares: I-70, US33 and SR104, this section has a nice, more remote park quality to it. The area south of the rail-line has been a part of the parks system for a while but it was road-locked until now. It also had a kind of up-and-down quality to it though none of the elevation changes are severe or challenging. The Petzinger Rd break, once it is reconfigured will be less distracting though it is nice to have the convenience store there for water and/or other things needed along the way.
06/02/2008