You may have noticed that when we revamped the Olympia site a couple of months ago and incorporated this blog in the homepage one of the main menu links went missing - namely the "Bur Oak Trails" link. That link previously took you to a page that included a slideshow that brought you through the Bur Oak trail in Bird's Hill Park (maintained by the Olympia Cycling Club), and it also included an interactive map.
This isn't an oversight. We're in the midst of putting together a new, improved page that includes Google Earth information so that you'll soon be able to use Google Earth to navigate the Bur Oak trails in 3D. What's more, we hope to add more trails in the near future so you can navigate other areas as well.
For now, if you'd like to use Google Earth to view the Bur Oak trails follow these instructions:
1) If you don't have Google Earth loaded on your computer you'll need to do that first. Simply click here, then click on the "Download Google Earth" button and follow the simple instructions. The download is very fast (dependant on your connection speed of course).
2) Open Google Earth, then click on the "Add" button in the top menu, then click on "Network Link" in the drop down menu.
3) In the pop-up box type Bur Oak in the "Name" line and type http://www.olympiacycle.com/buroaktest2.kmz in the "Link" line.
4) Click "OK" and then click on the Bur Oak folder that appears under "My Places" in the left hand column of your screen. You should now see the Bur Oak trails on your screen. Use the controls near the top right side of your screen to navigate.
That's it! Over the next week or two we plan to add pictures to the map and will add a permanent link in the main menu to this info. Until then let us know if you're experiencing any problems by emailing editor@olympiacycle.com. And remember that the Bur Oak trails are also excellent for snowshoeing in the winter, so don't wait until spring to head out there.