A walking path between Burcham and Constant parks apparently is the road less traveled, and that’s the way some users like it.

It’s a nice, shaded path and very secluded, said Lawrence resident Kevin Roe.

“It’s just a really nice slice of nature, and it’s in the city,” he said.

But Roe has stopped using the path since city crews tore out trees and thickets and left a mess on the sandy path more than a month ago.

Mark Hecker, parks and maintenance superintendent for the city of Lawrence, said he knows the nature path now looks dramatically different. But it had to be done, he said.

Strong windstorms during the past months snapped and broke tops of trees, he said. Those needed to be removed along with dead trees and trees gnawed down by beavers.

“We needed to address the issue, so we wouldn’t have limbs falling on people,” Hecker said.

Hecker and Roe said few people probably know about the nature trail between the two parks. It was established by fishermen, Hecker said.

Roe said several people from the Pinckney Neighborhood, where he lives, use the trail. He said he knows the path’s makeover isn’t that big a deal in the grand scheme of things, but wonders why the city sent people to work on it after it had generally been ignored by city crews for so long.

Kevin Roe walks with his son Nathaniel along the Kansas River near Constant Park. The city recently knocked down trees and brush along parts of the path, which made it unsightly and prone to washing out during rains. The action limits the days Roe and his son can walk the path. The two were on the trail Monday.

“It’s pretty much been self maintained by the people using it,” Roe said. “For them to come over now and do this is sort of drastic. They do a nice job with the parks, but this wasn’t done well.”

Hecker said park crews may provide less maintenance on the trail compared with others in the city because it is a nature trail. However, he said, parks department crews regularly maintain the path by mowing and trimming trees. In the area city arborists worked on, dead wood, tree limbs and brush piles were left near the path for habitat.

Park maintenance crews worked on other parts of the trail, and the vegetation has recovered, Hecker said. He anticipates the same for the latest portion.

Lawrence Parks and Recreations Department

“The path will look ugly for awhile,” Hecker said. “But it will correct itself. It’s kind of a healing process.”