“What we’re going to push for, one of the things I think they missed before ... is to incorporate more information about Scottsdale and expand the exhibits along the trail.”

Conklin gave an example of a plaque or sign embedded at certain points along the trail relating Scottsdale’s history of mining and cattle ranching.

Scottsdale City Council Member Tony Nelssen said he also is happy to see people working on this project, but cautioned getting easements and making one contiguous trail isn’t going to be easy due to certain developments that already exist along the planned corridor.

“Right now, it’s just a line on a map,” said Nelssen, adding the movement to secure easements should’ve been done 15 years ago. “There are some hurdles to overcome.”

Conner agreed securing some of these easements wouldn’t be easy but said by working with Friends of the Scenic Drive, the city is hoping to raise awareness of the project and encourage property owners to participate.

Nelssen said there are some walking paths out there already, but that they don’t conform to Scottsdale’s “multi‑use” paths.

“They’re not specifically horse trails,” said Nelssen, adding he’d love to see horse trails along the scenic corridor.

Howard Myers, a member of Friends of the Scenic Drive, said he hopes to keep the “desert look” intact as much as possible.

“An earlier plan had an ‘oasis’ on every corner,” said Meyers. “That’s gone now and we’d like to keep the desert scenic.”

Conner said this trail system won’t tie into the Maricopa County Trails System being designed and built. The first leg of that system opened up in Spur Cross Ranch a few weeks ago.

As for the Desert Foothills Scenic Drive, Conner hopes to have surveyors on the ground in the very near future.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” said Conner.