Morgan Hill
– Mountain bikers, hikers and horseback riders are getting more
trails at Harvey Bear Ranch County Park starting this summer.
Morgan Hill – Mountain bikers, hikers and horseback riders are getting more trails at Harvey Bear Ranch County Park starting this summer.
A work plan for adding 14 miles of multi-use trails for the county’s newest park was approved Tuesday by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.
Several improvements to Coyote Ridge, Rancho San Ysidro and Harvey Bear trails will be finished this year. Four new trails, Calaveras, Ohlone, Town Springs and Valley Oak will open June 1. The total project is estimated to be complete in five years.
The park is the county’s second largest park, encompassing 4,445 acres in the hills east of Gilroy. It’s also the county’s newest park, having opened in May 2005 after eight years of planning. After purchasing the land in 1997 for $14.1, which included the Bear Ranch and the Mendoza Ranch, the county created a master plan for the park that called for new trails and other features. The master plan was approved by the board of supervisors in 2004.
“We are pleased to be able to add the new trails to Coyote Lake – Harvey Bear Ranch County Park in response to feedback received from the public,” said Supervisor Don Gage, Chair of the board of supervisors. “The trails will allow residents from various neighborhoods to access the park easily.”
When the park opened two years ago it already had 14 miles of trails. The new paths will be developed in accordance with the county-wide trails master plan, using native soil and a width of 3 to 4 feet. The guidelines call for the trails’ designs to avoid sensitive habitats and cultural and historic resources.
The trails will include routes for hikers-only and paths bikers can use, too. They will connect various park facilities and link to local, regional and national historical trails and neighborhoods.
The project is supported by California State Parks Recreational Trails Program grant funds and is estimated to cost $600,000.
“The new trails will be great additions to the present trail system, ” said Tamara Clark-Shear, spokesperson for the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department. “There are also several other improvements that are underway at the Harvey Bear Ranch, including the campground improvement.”
The campground improvements – funded separately by the parks department – include installing showers and reconfiguring camp sites so visitors aren’t clustered together. The work is expected to be finished this year.
