Tuolumne River park will get its first boat ramp by winter. It’s in west Modesto
The first-ever boat ramp in Tuolumne River Regional Park could begin launching watercraft by year’s end.
It will be built in a west Modesto stretch of the park under a $1.79 million contract approved July 11 by the City Council.
The paved ramp will handle canoes, kayaks and other nonmotorized vessels. The project includes a parking area for trailers that tow boats to the site. It also will get picnic tables, shade trees and restrooms.
TRRP winds along seven river miles between Mitchell and Carpenter roads. It has trails, native oak forest, a few soccer fields and restored floodplains. Early steps have been taken toward making the portion near downtown a central gathering place.
The boat ramp is funded in part by a $780,000 grant from the California Department of Boating and Waterways. Fees charged on developers will cover an additional $800,000. The rest is from the park’s capital budget. Its five-member board includes Modesto and Ceres city council members and Stanislaus County supervisors.
The contract went to Harris Builders Inc. of Hilmar. The council approved it unanimously and without comment.
Construction crews will try not to harm wildlife
Construction is scheduled to start in mid- to late August and will be done by the end of 2023, said an email from Diana Ruiz-Del Re, communications and media relations officer for the city.
The ramp will be near a river bluff off Neece Drive, just south of John Thurman Field. This part of the park has trails but no other amenities to date.
The lower end of the ramp will be in the riverbed, so the crews must take care not to harm salmon or other wildlife habitat. The ramp side of the stream will have a temporary diversion known as a coffer dam.
This part of TRRP has a dirt path connecting to downtown on the upstream side and to Carpenter Road downstream. It draws hikers, joggers and mountain bikers.
A paved path could be added next year, easing access for wheelchairs, strollers and street bicycles. It is funded by a separate state grant and will extend from downtown to the Neece area.
Meanwhile, the park’s governing board is in the midst of updating the 2001 master plan. A draft could be released late this year, suggesting future projects and funding sources.
Three other boat ramps upstream
The Tuolumne has three other boat ramps in Stanislaus County, all upstream of TRRP. They are on the east side of Ceres, at Geer Road near Hughson, and in Waterford.
Boaters also could benefit soon from higher flows in the Tuolumne. It can get too low in drought years to float a craft. The boost would come from a tentative agreement on reservoir releases by the Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts and San Francisco.
Another obstacle to boating was Dennett Dam, a small impoundment built near downtown in the 1930s and later condemned. Its foundation remained until being removed in 2018 by the Tuolumne River Trust and its partners.
This was mentioned in a memo about the boat ramp from Laurie Smith, director of parks, recreation and neighborhoods for Modesto.
“The city and TRRP want to encourage safe recreational use of the Tuolumne River by residents as well as establish an in-demand tourism destination,” she wrote.
