Blazing Volunteer Trails : Helping the County Get Parks in Shape, Hikers and Cyclists Build Paths and Goodwill

At ceremonies marking the opening of Peters Canyon Regional Park last Friday, Supervisors Thomas F. Riley and Gaddi H. Vasquez and other county officials took heavy rakes called McClouds in their hands and began clearing brush from the last few yards of the Lake View Trail.

After working a few minutes for the cameras, the officials turned their tools over to some of the volunteers who had built most of the path, which winds around Peters Canyon Reservoir in the new 354-acre park in the hills east of Orange. After the last of the brush was cleared, volunteer Patrick Henry got on his mountain bike and began riding the trail.

The moment neatly symbolized a process that has accelerated over the past year, and appears likely to continue expanding: the cash-strapped county government, trying to operate more parks with less money, is increasingly turning to cyclists, equestrians and hikers to help maintain and upgrade the parks they use. So far, the effort is paying off.

At Peters Canyon alone, volunteers have put in an estimated 1,600 hours of free labor to get the park ready for opening, cutting new trails and upgrading existing trails and fire roads. Mountain bikers of the Orange County Trails Coalition (under Henry’s direction), have been particularly active at the park, along with Boy Scouts and Eagle Scouts.

“There is just no way (the county) could have done the work, unless we had a D9 bulldozer,” said John Bovee, supervising park ranger for both Peters Canyon and nearby Santiago Oaks regional parks. Bovee has a total of three maintenance people under his supervision to take care of about 1,000 acres of parkland.

Without the volunteers, Bovee said, “we wouldn’t have had any of these trails cut.”

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Meanwhile, at O’Neill Park, equestrians worked every weekend in April on improving trails. “It’s either volunteer work, or a lot of it’s just not going to be done,” explained Laura Keister, secretary of Saddleback Canyon Riders, a chapter of Equestrian Trails Inc. Keister has organized volunteer efforts at O’Neill.

Over four Saturdays, a group of about 10 volunteers has improved three miles of the neglected Vista Trail, building a bridge and a water bypass and clearing brush. “It really is a beautiful walk or ride. You can see the ocean on a clear day,” Keister said. She hopes to continue, and expand, volunteer trail efforts in the park.

A volunteer trail work day at Whiting Ranch Regional Park in January drew 80 workers, said park ranger John Gannaway--far more than anyone expected. The park’s trail system was heavily damaged by the subsequent winter storms; while most of the serious damage has required heavy equipment for repair, Gannaway said he has been able to call on a core group of about 20 volunteers to help repair single-track trails and other areas inaccessible to bulldozers. The park finally reopened about 10 days ago.

Volunteer trail projects are also held regularly at Aliso and Wood Canyons Regional Park, as well as the state parks (Crystal Cove and Chino Hills) and sections of the Cleveland National Forest. Volunteer work in county parks alone has saved county government about $600,000 in the past year, according to Tim Miller, manager of the county’s regional parks.

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Volunteer trail work is nothing new. The Orange County Chapter of the Sierra Club has been active in building and maintaining trails in the Santa Ana Mountains since the ‘70s, under the direction of Kenneth S. Croker, the dean of local trail volunteers. Boy Scouts often take on trail work for their Eagle Scout project.

Mountain bikers became active in trail volunteer efforts about five years ago, partly to increase goodwill toward the sport in the wake of bad publicity and sometimes strained relations with other trail users. SHARE became active in Crystal Cove State Park; Chino Hills Interpretive Assn. was another pioneer local group.

The positive work has helped maintain mountain bike access to those parks at a time when other areas around the country have been closed to cyclists. The activism of mountain bikers has also helped ensure that new parks, such as Whiting Ranch, Aliso and Wood canyons, Laguna Coast and now Peters Canyon are open to cyclists.

Volunteer trail groups, meanwhile, have increased in number. Outdoor equipment shops such as REI and mountain bike stores also became active, motivated in part by the “no trails, no sales” philosophy.

As the number of groups undertaking trail work increased, so did scheduling conflicts between the groups. Last September, a conference was called to increase coordination between the organizations; Jim Meyer of SHARE expected a few attendees, but the meeting drew 46 people representing 30 groups.

The first order of business for the newly formed Trails Council was to create a countywide calendar of trail projects, which is set through the end of November. The group also contacted Kurt Loheit of the International Mountain Biking Assn., who came to Peters Canyon earlier this year and led a two-day workshop in trail construction and maintenance for county park rangers and volunteers.

Seeing the potential for volunteer assistance in maintaining the county parks, the county in February created the Adopt-A-Facility program, which includes as one part an Adopt-A-Trail project. Groups are encouraged to “adopt” a particular trail in a county park and take on responsibility for its maintenance; the county, in turn, provides tools and other materials.

“The goal is mostly to maintain existing trails,” said Jeff Dickman, county trails coordinator. “The money saving is important (for the county), but more important, it gets people involved with the park.”

Coordination of trail projects through the Trails Council and the county has led to “tremendously” increased participation, Meyer said. “There are just so many positive things that happen,” he said. Still, there is room to grow. “We have a lot of work left. This is still in its infancy.”

The Trails Council has also helped lead to increased cooperation between user groups that have often been pitted against each other, particularly mountain bikers and equestrians. “It’s tremendously positive,” Meyer said. “Orange County is essentially a model for the whole country.”

Said Dave Gunderson, who helps coordinate volunteer work projects for REI: “You come to the realization that everyone is working toward the same goal.”

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Friday’s opening of Peters Canyon Regional Park came during the observance of Orange County Trails Days. To mark National Trails Day, the county and the Orange County Trails Coalition will offer an “off-road fun ride” for mountain bikers and equestrians on June 5 at Caspers Wilderness Park on Ortega Highway east of San Juan Capistrano.

The day will include group rides ranging from six to 20 miles for mountain bikers, and an eight-mile ride for equestrians. A $25 entry fee includes a T-shirt, refreshments, aid stations on marked routes and a prize raffle. The event is sponsored by Shimano.

For information on the event, call (714) 890-3925.

Volunteers who would like information on upcoming trails projects can call county trails coordinator Jeff Dickman, (714) 834-5372. Dickman is often in the field but will return calls.