CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A new paddling trail opened on the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi campus Wednesday afternoon.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the university partnered for the grand opening of the new paddling trail on Oso Bay.
"Well, it's important for Corpus Christi to enjoy the outdoors and to have one more opportunity to access the water," said David Yoskowitz, Executive director of Texas Wildlife and Parks Department. "It's a great day for those that are already enjoying the water and those that are looking forward to that."
The Ron R. Smith Memorial Paddling Trail will be the 82nd in Texas. The trail is named in honor of one of the university's graduates and a Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist who was a crucial member of the creation of all the paddling trails throughout the state.
"Instead of going through the process where A&M-Corpus would come to us with the application, we came to them," said Holly Grand, natural resources specialist/coastal fisheries outreach coordinator. "We said 'Our colleague has passed and we would like to honor him with a paddling trail. And we think that this location would be perfect for it.' "
With this paddling trail, Smith's work and the TPWD's mission of preserving wildlife will live on.
"So, it's really important we have this trail so that people can get out and experience nature and what we have to offer here in Texas," Grand said. "And hopefully built that same relationship he had with nature."
The Smith family said when they found out the location of their father's trail, they were filled with joy and tears.
"It means a lot to have it be directly behind where he did a lot of his studies. A lot of my friends and family that are not here, they all know about this area. So when I told them it was going to be in this exact location, they all got tears in their eyes," said Christian Smith, Ron's youngest son.
"I have son who just turned one," said Austin Smith, Ron's oldest son. "I can't wait to come back here one day and point at the sign and say it's named after his grandpa. Now, it's kind of a permanent legacy here, etched on the signs and it's pretty cool."
The Ron R. Smith Memorial Paddling Trail is free to the public and is accessible at the main entrance of the campus nature trail.
Convenient parking is located at the Turtle Cove parking lot, near the university’s baseball field. Guests can use the university’s pay-to-park system called ParkMobile during the week, though parking on campus is free from 7 p.m. on Friday through 8 a.m. on Monday.