Shawnee Lookout Stream Restoration

Great Parks, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, is restoring nearly two miles of buried streams from beneath the former Shawnee Lookout Golf Course. The project removes asphalt golf cart paths and underground culverts, restores natural stream features and replaces invasive vegetation with native riparian plantings to improve habitat and water quality. A new two-mile natural-surface trail will be constructed, following an accessible grade and improving connectivity to the surrounding landscape. Construction teams will then plant 24,000 native trees and shrubs at the park, enhancing habitat for birds and other wildlife, improving water retention and providing shade for the stream and associated aquatic and riparian habitats.

Shawnee Lookout is an important archaeological district inhabited for more than 10,000 years by several indigenous groups, and this project represents a foundational step in reestablishing it as a premier regional destination for hiking, environmental stewardship and cultural education.