Via the California Bicycle Coalition

This summer the state could begin closing 70 state parks, many of them popular for bike touring, bike camping and mountain biking. That’s why there’s a campaign to help keep them open.

Locally, the Santa Susanna State Historic Park is slated for closure.  This park is South of the 118 freeway, between Chatsworth and Rocky Peak. It includes some multi-use trails, including the old Santa Susanna Stagecoach road and El Camino Nuevo.

Statewide, there’s a lot at stake for bicyclists. Eighteen parks could be closed along the Pacific Coast Bike Route, an international bike touring destination and California’s only state-designated bike route, including two in Mendocino County that are crucial stops for bike tourists. Five parks popular for mountain biking, including Annadel, Brannan Island, China Camp, Henry Coe and Sugarloaf, are also on the closure list. Nineteen of the 58 state parks that offer low-cost “hike or bike” campsites for those arriving by bike or on foot are set to be closed.

Tell your legislators and Gov. Jerry Brown there are better solutions to the state’s budget crisis than closing state parks. Make the case in person at the 10th annual Park Advocacy Day on March 20 in Sacramento. If you own a business that would suffer due to the proposed state park closures, join the California State Parks Foundation’s “Closing Parks is Bad for Business” campaign.