Hiking is one of the many things you're able to do here in Austin, but one neighborhood in northwest Austin is implementing a fee for their trails, which caused a lot of controversy.
It was no secret people were not too happy about a $10 fee just to hike the River Place Nature Trails, but now the board of directors is planning to make some changes.
The River Place Limited District is the governing body over the trail. According to president Scott Crosby, it will continue to look at the fee, and this week decided to implement free hours for hikers Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
In a statement to KVUE he said, "The purpose of the Trail fee is to improve safety and provide the sustainability of the green spaces (parks and trails) in River Place."
But for the hikers on the trails, they're hoping the fee goes down.
"You know, for that amount of money they should put a Stop-N-Go or 7/11 in the middle of the thing,” one hiker told KVUE.
Residents of River Place’s Limited District do not have to pay a fee to hike the trail – which is about six miles from start to finish – as long as they have a membership card, Four Point News reported. The fee will apply to non-residents on the weekends to start, Four Point News said.
The fee also applies to each pet that walks with a hiker. The dog fee stems from complaints the district has heard about a number of dogs on the trail that are off-leash, according to Four Points News.
The full statement can be read below:
"The LD Board will continue to monitor the impact of the $10 fee and consider comments and suggestions that we receive. The purpose of the trail fee [is] to improve safety and provide the sustainability of the green spaces (parks and trails) in River Place. We will be posting free times to use the trail on our website, considering an annual fee and working with those organizations like the BoyScouts to allow free access."