This past Saturday, December 1st, CORBA’s Santa Clarita Valley Trail Users committee (SCVTU) organized another volunteer trail building day at Golden Valley Ranch Open Space in the City of Santa Clarita.
The SCVTU has been working with the City of Santa Clarita to provide new trail opportunities on former ranch properties. Both East Walker Ranch and Golden Valley Ranch were acquired by the City to both limit future development of the area, and to provide a recreational open-space resource for the Santa Clarita Community.
Earlier this year, the group completed approximately three miles of new trail at East Walker Ranch, which was used for last summer’s PedalFest mountain bike race series.
The new trail being constructed will link East Walker Ranch to the southern neighborhoods of Santa Clarita around Fair Oaks. It will provide trail connectivity from the City’s neighborhoods to these open space areas, and eventually into the Angeles National Forest. The trail will be a much more enjoyable experience than some of the steep ridge line ranch roads that currently exist.
Earlier this year, REI awarded CORBA a $15,000 grant to help lead the new trail development. The grant is being utilized by SCVTU to purchase trailwork tools, materials, volunteer support, and professional contractor services where they are indicated.
Not only did REI provide financial support, but last Saturday, REI Woodland Hills invited all their employees to join in on the effort. REI chose this project for their “employee community service day.” Some REI folks brought out their entire family. Kids too young to be out on the trail helped pot native succulent plants which were given to volunteers as “thank-you” gift at the end of the day.
Girlz Gone Riding (GGR), a women’s mountain bike club supported by CORBA, sent about 18 women to put in work on the trail. The girls had a lot of fun. A common theme to the comments was how rewarding it is to help bring a brand new trail to life.
Jose Gonzales, SCVTU’s trail guru, had spent several days over the last few weeks working with Jason Lindenberg to lay out and flag the new trail, along with some preliminary brush clearing.
About 60 people came out to the event, staged at East Walker Ranch. Our target for the day was to complete bench-cutting and clearing about a half mile of trail. With the enthusiasm and energy of the group, we were able to complete close to .7 miles!
Rains earlier in the week had softened the ground, making it relatively easy to contour the trail and pack it down. Conditions were just about ideal for building new trail in this terrain. However, the sticky clay will not be friendly to hiking boots or tires, and the new trail should be avoided when wet.
The Santa Clarita Valley Signal came out to cover the event. The City is also very excited about the project. We appreciate the enthusiasm of all the volunteers. REI Woodland Hills Store Manager Nikki said they had so much fun, they’re ready to come back in January and help finish building the trail.
We expect there to be at least two more workdays to finish this trail segment, after which it will be opened to the public. Watch for announcements of upcoming trailwork opportunities.
