The Maple Valley Parks and Recreation Commission is still weighing the options on what to do with two pieces of city-owned park properties.

One of those properties is called Henry’s Switch and it sits at the corner of state Route 169 and Southeast 288th Street.

This piece of land, in particular, is a highly sought-after bumpy plot of trees and shrubs.

At the last Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, there were several ideas from different individuals and groups in the community about what to do with it.

One group of Maple Valley residents said they know exactly what to do – make it an interpretive trail system with a natural playscape and an outdoor classroom.

Gera McGuire, the group’s organizer, said Henry’s Switch is a prime location and a good example of the Pacific Northwest.

“(It’s) the perfect slice of what the Pacific Northwest biodiversity is like, right in our backyard,” she said in a phone interview.

McGuire lives in the Sawyer Crest neighborhood, which lies adjacent to the property in question. According to McGuire, she and her neighbors bought those homes thinking that their extended back yard would be reserved for park land.

Now, she said, they are trying to make that a reality.

Currently, the property consists of one major trail on the east edge, which runs parallel to state Route 169. In the middle of the property, there are young Douglas firs and alders, some standing and some fallen, and a bunch of other smaller trees. Heading more west is a steep cliff, roughly 20 feet high, that leads to the Sawyer Crest neighborhood.

As it sits now, only an experienced hiker should venture off the well-beaten path into the thick of the woods.

But, McGuire and her group hope to change that.

Her inspiration for the project came during a recent trip to eastern Washington. McGuire said she went to a park in Kennewick that had been burnt down by vandals. Through an entire community effort, she said, the park was rebuilt with donations from local companies and families.

McGuire remembered thinking, “Why couldn’t we pull together to put something like this together?”

She said she hopes that the park she is proposing will make it easier for people in Maple Valley to get outside and exercise, learn about the wildlife in the area and encourage local groups and classes to utilize the outdoor space as a teaching tool.

The group, said McGuire, is hoping to get local businesses involved to help with the costs associated with the park. They are about two months into the planning and have just started having group meetings.

“We are at the grassroots levels right now,” she said.

The Parks and Recreation Commission is still a few months away from making any recommendations to the city council on what to do with the property. The commissioners have asked residents, both individuals and groups, to present their ideas to them at an upcoming meeting in early 2015. The date for that meeting, and whether the format will be a workshop or public hearing, is undetermined.

The group’s Facebook page can be found at http://on.fb.me/1rvX7YC.