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Pedro “Pete” Benavides County Park in Southmost now has a 2.5-mile mountain bike trail and exercise court in addition to the park’s several other features.
It’s the first mountain bike trail in the county parks system, said Joe Vega, director of the county’s parks and recreation department.
“It has three different levels,” he said. “It has the beginners, intermediate and advanced level. We’re excited about this new amenity. It adds to the other great recreational opportunities we have at Benavides Park.”
Those other amenities include a playground, baseball fields, a nature trail, a walking trail and a covered basketball court that opened a little over a year ago. The new exercise court features 11 workout stations for strength and cardio training. Equipment includes an elliptical machine, hand cycler, balance steps, tai chi wheels, squat press, cardio stepper, chest/back press, pull-up/dip bars, ab crunch/leg lift machine, mobility ramp with stairs, and assisted row/push-up bars.
All the machines are designed for ages 13 and up. The exercise court itself is completely covered and located near the playground and other major amenities.
Benavides Park was dedicated in 2006 in memory of Precinct 1 County Commissioner Pedro “Pete” Benavides, who died that year and was instrumental in the park’s development. County Commissioner Sofia Benavides, his widow, was appointed to fill out her husband’s term and continues to serve Precinct 1. She remembers that her husband was dismayed to discover that Precinct 1 had no county parks aside from coastal parks and set out to find some property with then county judge Gilberto Hinojosa.
“Pete came home and he told me … Sofia, I can’t believe it,” she said. “We don’t have anything. The nearest place the kids can go is Morningside Park.”
The city of Brownsville and the county helped pay for the land purchase and 64-acre Benavides Park, adjacent to Resaca de la Guerra and across South Browne Avenue from the Bob Clark Social Services Center, was the result. The exercise court and mountain bike trail are just the latest feathers in the cap, Benavides said.
“Everybody was always talking about Monte Bella mountain bike trail (off West Alton Gloor Boulevard),” she said. “Way back several years ago I told Joe (Vega) I’d like to make that a possibility here.”
The county applied for and won a $200,000 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department grant to help make it a reality, Benavides said. The total cost of the trail project was about $371,500. Other funding was provided through the American Rescue Plan Act.
“It took a long time to get it off the ground but it finally came to fruition,” she said. “It’s open. There are signs telling you where you are and the whole nine yards.”
A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new bike trail and exercise court, a $141,700 project, was held on Oct. 23 with County Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. serving as master of ceremonies. Attendees included Benavides’ fellow county commissioners as well as Judge Cyndi Hinojosa, state Sen. Morgan LaMantia, a representative from TPWD and others in attendance.
“I’m very, very proud of it,” Benavides said.
Vega described the new trail as a “great enhancement and addition to one of the most beautiful parks in Cameron County.”
After the ceremony, 14 new kids’ bicycles were raffled. Sponsoring the bike giveaway were Benavides, A&A Custom Manufacturing, Gomez Mendez Saenz Inc., Rosenbaum Trucking, Daniel Bryant and Mary Esther Sorola.
