The Experience: Austin's newest park is a true “Field of Dreams”, still in its infancy but already showing great potential. Most of the park's land was acquired in 1994 and the park was approved and funded in 1998. The Colorado River Park was renamed the Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Park in 2001, after the retired deputy director of the Parks and Recreation Department. “Mr. G.”, as he was known to many, worked for the department for 34 years and was an inspiration to many Austin youths. At the current time, the park consists mainly of a large sports complex and a 1.5 mile hike and bike trail. When entering the park, one sees several softball and baseball fields with bleachers. At the head of the sidewalk, there is an attractive statue featuring kids playing softball, called “Reach for Your Dreams”. The statue is made of limestone, slate tile, and river rocks, and was created by Ambray Gonzales in 2002. There is a building that looks like it was designed to sell tickets or concessions, which was locked on a weekday morning in August. The restrooms were contained in this building, so they were also locked. The water fountains located on the side of this building were working and had cold water, but the other water fountains in the park appeared to have been turned off. There is one playscape, partially shaded, just past the softball fields. There were no benches for adults to sit on by the playscape. There is also no parking close by the playscape; it seems to have been placed there primarily to entertain young children during their siblings softball games. The playscape area was surrounded by numerous ash trees. There were a few picnic tables located close by the softball fields. The park was absolutely deserted when we were there, so it was very quiet, private, and peaceful. The hike and bike trail consisted of dirt and crushed rock, and much of it was in full sun. There was no map and no informational signs, but we assumed the trail went to the river. Unfortunately, the August sun did us in before we reached the river. There was one view soon after starting the trail, when taking a small side trail to the right, but the river was down a steep dropoff. The nature aspect of the trail was interesting, as we saw a deer who watched us for some time. There were also tracks and scat suggestive of a bobcat. We will attempt the hike again at a cooler time of the year. The Parks and Recreation Department reports that there are more softball fields at the other end of the trail. However, they have plans to have nice gardens and benches along the trail eventually, with scenic river overlooks. Most exciting for us is the Children's Adventure Play Area the Parks and Recreation Department has planned for the park. This website shows what the play area is expected to look like: http://www.austinparks.org/images/Childrens-Play-big.jpg. Construction is expected to start in 2007.