Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship

🚨New trail project: hired us to build a 1.5-mile trail (Ojo De Agua Trail) as one of the final pieces needed to unlock public access at their Coyote Canyon property!

➡️ Ojo De Agua will welcome cyclists, hikers, and equestrians to the new 2,741-acre property at the foothills of the Diablo Mountain Range. It will connect with the planned Coyote Ridge Trail and the Woodland Trail to form a multi-use loop of approximately 5 miles.

More to come on this project!

Progress pics from another puncheon we’re working on out at Cotoni-Coast Dairies. We used turf stone pavers as the footings on this one and redwood for the stringers and decking.

These pics are mostly of the approaches that we built out of mudstone rock sourced from around the trail. There’s an abundant amount of this mudstone and it tends to have pretty flat sides and hard edges which makes it great for stacking and building with. It’s also pretty soft so you can chip away at it to shape it how you want. Thanks to ALL of the volunteers who have been coming out to ‘Crew Days at CCD’ to help out with this project—it’s coming together beautifully. Those mudstone approaches are a work of art.🧑‍🎨🖼️

📸: & Andrew L.

Part 3️⃣ (final) of building a puncheon on La Corona Trail in DeLavega Park: the approaches (& an adjustment).

To make a smoother transition from the trail to the puncheon, we built “approaches” on both ends. For these approaches we put in retaining boards then hauled in about 1,000lbs of rock as fill. The rock will last much longer than dirt and also won’t settle as much as dirt would. Borrowed soil covered the rock for a smooth finish.

After trying the bridge out, we made the decision to move the rails to the outside of the deck instead of on top to widen the bridge. Just a few screws later and it was looking good. This puncheon will make the crossing a lot smoother and a lot drier come winter.

This final day was a 100% volunteer effort—thank you so much for the incredible work Tom, Jon, Judd, Chris, and Abby! 👏

📸:

4 years ago today, the CZU Lightning Complex Fire ignited and went on to scar the Santa Cruz Mountains. On top of the devastating destruction to homes and businesses, the fire scorched beloved open spaces.

Sweat, blood, and countless hours of work have already gone into restoring these open spaces but there is a lot more work to do before they are back to the way we remember them.

➡️ Our efforts are made possible by the support from our community and as we ramp up for the next phase of trail restoration, you can consider pitching in. Learn more about our work and pitch in at santacruztrails.org/blog/4-years-since-czu-trail-recovery-still-underway/ (link in story & bio)

📸: SCMTS Crew, &

We’re excited to have just kicked off a new trail project with in Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park! We’re building a new, 1-mile trail that’ll be open to hikers, bikers, and equestrians. The trail (Valle Vista Trail) is to improve outdoor experiences for all, including mountain bikers.

Check out some photos from our first bit of progress. If you can’t tell from the photos, it’s been hot and dry. More to come!

“Get in, we’re going digging.” 🐾⚒️

’s loyal companion, Toshi, going for a cruise in the work truck.

Part 2️⃣ of building a puncheon on La Corona Trail in DeLaveaga Park: the install.

With all of the pre-cut lumber staged at the project site, we’re easily able jump right into the install. Once the footings are level, we install the stringers with brackets, then the deck boards with spacers (pic 5), and finally the deck rails. Between relatively straightforward drawings, Justin directing the install (he’s done quite a few of these recently), and some helping hands from volunteers and the Summer Youth Trail Crew—it was a breeze. We’ll build the approaches next week and be all wrapped up. ✅

📸: .thildy & Luca

Part 1️⃣ of building a puncheon on La Corona Trail in DeLaveaga Park: the prep.

When doing carpentry projects on trails, we typically aim to do little to no cutting onsite. This helps us haul less tools and materials out to the site BUT requires a tidy planning process. Our initial visit is to take precise measurements and even mark things out. Once we feel good with it, we’re back to the shop to make our cuts. With all of our redwood boards precut to correct specs, we can then transport them to the job site, stage for the install, and cut our footings in nice and level. Thanks to an awesome crew of volunteers for the extra hands to transport and cut in the footings.🏋️‍♀️⛏️

📸: .thildy & Luca

Pizza and tool maintenance party this Friday! 🍕⚒️

➡️ Pizza’s on us for anyone who shows up to help out. We’ll be cleaning, sharpening, repainting, and reoiling our entire tool inventory and could use some extra hands. *You’re also welcome to bring a tool or two of your own if you want to clean it up or sharpen a blade. See you there!

🗓️ Friday, July 26
🕛 10am-2:30pm (stop by for as long as you want)
📍 George H. Wilson (over by Costco)

Sign up at santacruztrails.org/events

Tree removal in Soquel Demonstration State Forest over the weekend thanks to the work from volunteers, Chris, Jon, and Illya! 💪🪓

They hopped on bikes with their saws to go cut out four trees we had gotten reports about on Ridge, Sawpit, and Braille. We got word that Flow Trail didn’t have any trees down so all of SDSF should be running clean.🧼

⚠️ Reminder that SDSF is closed on weekdays due to active timber operations—please respect this closure.

📸: & Illy

Summer = brushing ✂️

The dry dirt (no good for digging) has our team focused heavily on brushing. Next time you’re out on a trail, try to notice if it was recently brushed.

📸: Photos here from this week in DeLaveaga and Pogonip by Luca!

Tell ya friends 🗣️…we’re hiring for two positions over here! Cool people, cool perks, and you get to build trails for a living..🤷

➡️ Head over to santacruztrails.org/careers to learn more about the positions and to apply.

1️⃣ Trail Construction Director:
This position is responsible for all trail projects from initiation to final review. This includes providing leadership and oversight for project implementation, administration, staff management, and project development.

2️⃣ Volunteer & Event Coordinator:
This position will play a crucial role in coordinating volunteer activities and event logistics!

Come join our crew to help put the finishing touches on the third loop of trail at Cotoni-Coast Dairies this Saturday. We’ll have tools and safety gear for everyone, just pack your own lunch and show up on time.

We don’t host Crew Days on weekends very often so this is a great chance to jump in and also a chance to see Cotoni-Coast Dairies if you haven’t yet!

⚒️ Crew Days at CCD
🗓️ Saturday, July 20, 2024
🕕 9am - 2pm
✍️ sign up at santacruztrails.org/events

📸: .lotus

Spot the Summer Youth Trail Crew member swimming in poison oak in that first photo. We’ve been spending a lot of time brushing on Emma McCrary Trail and most of what we’re brushing is poison oak…😅🏊

Brushing isn’t always the most glorious or exciting part of trail maintenance but we do quite a bit of it because it makes a big difference. Most importantly, brushing improves sight lines which not only helps prevent user collisions but it also helps improve the experience (photos 1&2 are before/after). And an added bonus here is that you’ll be less likely to get poison oak.

Thank you, Summer Youth Trail Crew!🫡💪

The Summer Youth Trail Crew got their first downed tree removal under their belt on Audrey Stanley Trail in DeLaveaga Park. It was a big, heavy tree so Mariano, from our professional crew, went out to buck up the tree (Mariano’s a talented sawyer) and the Summer Youth Trail Crew helped get the rounds off the trail and clean up the debris afterwards.

Progress photos make the job look easier than it is. That’s a lot of big, saw cuts and a lot of big rounds to move off trail.

📸: Luca

Progress photos from the Audrey Stanley Grove Trail reroute project in DeLaveaga Park that the Summer Youth Trail Crew just wrapped up…💥⬇️

⚒️ Both and our team had received concerns about potentially hazardous (slippery) steps on a steep side slope so we decided to reroute the section to make it a bit safer. It’s a short reroute but entailed quite a bit of rock work with retaining walls and rock steps that was executed perfectly. Well done, crew!

📸: Luca & .thildy

Another new bike day for another trail supporter.💥 John picked up his Soil Searching Stumpjumper Evo LTD today after winning the sweepstakes we just wrapped up with .

🙌 Huge thanks to Specialized for making this one possible and to Zach, Owen, Tanner, and the rest of the crew at for getting John dialed.

🏆 Big congrats to John for winning and thanks for being a trail supporter. John hails from Mountain View and is happy to be a supporter of Santa Cruz trails. John’s had his eye on the Stumpjumper for a bit and cashed in on some good luck just in time.

Freshly built trail at the new trail project we’re working on at the Cotoni-Coast Dairies unit of the California Coastal National Monument. 🤩

➡️ we’re still fundraising to support the building of 9 miles of new, multi-use trails in Santa Cruz County and you can be apart of it. Pitch in today to help bring new trails to Santa Cruz. Visit santacruztrails.org.

📸: .lotus

THANK YOU to everyone who entered in to win the ‘Soil Searching’ Stumpjumper Evo from !!🙌

💥We have 127 NEW members committed to regular support of trails in the Santa Cruz Mountains and 26 of our existing members upped their support.

🏆 And for our winner… John Klugenheimer of Mountain View, CA is a frequent rider of trails in Santa Cruz and is now happy to be a supporter as a new member. He’s been looking to replace his current bike from 2017 and told us that the Stumpjumper Evo has been at the top of his list so this worked out pretty well for him. Congrats, John!🎊🍾

Today’s the last day to get in on the fun…support trails by becoming a member of SCMTS and you’ll be entered to win this limited edition ‘Soil Searching’ Stumpjumper Evo. 🔥🎨

➡️ visit santacruztrails.org/win and enter by 11:59PM PT tonight, June 17. As little as $5/mo gets you entered!

📸: .lotus

More progress photos of that steep, mudstone switchback we posted about back on May 15. We’ve been picking away at the build on this one with the help of a few awesome volunteers (Tom W. & Tim M. among some others).

Keeping bike climbers in mind, we’ve made sure to have a relatively consistent incline through the entire turn versus using steps the whole way. Steps are a convenient way to gain elevation quickly for a hiker but not so much when on a bike. Whattya think, over/under 2 tons of rock moved on this build?

📸: Tom W.

Win a limited edition Stumpjumper Evo and support trails while you do it.

This bike comes with a custom ‘Soil Searching’ paint job that you won’t find for sale, so now’s your chance to become an owner. ⏭️ Swipe through the photos to see the details on this thing 🤌

ℹ️ become a member OR upgrade your current membership to become eligible to win.

➡️ visit santacruztrails.org/win to enter by Monday, June 17 at 11:59PM PT.

📸:

New bike day thanks to the good people over at Current eBikes & Tern Bicycles 💥⚡️

They hooked it up with the new Tern Orox—an off-road cargo e-bike. E-bikes have become the standard for our daily commute to project sites and we’re excited to add this one to the fleet. It’s got a 400lb load capacity and we’ve seen some pictures of the bike fully packed so we’re excited to put it to the test. How many chain saws you think we can get on there??

Thanks for talking shop and getting us kitted out, Mike! 🙌

Up close and personal with poison oak at Cotoni-Coast Dairies. 🌿👎

☢️ the black spots on Bruce’s glove in photo 1 are from the urushiol oil (which causes the allergic reaction) of the poison oak plant. When the oil is exposed to oxygen, under certain conditions, it will become a black lacquer-like substance. ℹ️ Lacquer has long been used in dishware in East Asia from the resin produced by the lacquer tree (same family as poison oak). Lots of cool reading out there on the urushiol oil—the ‘Urushiol’ Wikipedia page is a great place start.

➡️ photos 4-5 are before/after

📸:

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who came out and partied with us for National Trails Day 2024!🥳🍾

The whole day felt like one big party with great people, music, food, drinks, prizes, games, art, conversations, and so much more. We also happened to get a TON of trail work done across the entire county too…

🗓️ The bar has been raised for next year. June 7, 2025–mark your calendars!

📸: .lotus



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🚨 Speak up for a community bike park & trails in as part of the City’s Old Capitol Site Plan Project.

ℹ️ Concepts for the 135-acre parcel propose multiple miles of multi-use trails with interpretive signage, restrooms, parking, and more.

➡️ More info and survey at the link in our bio (Survey closes June 7).

Photos by & the Old Capitol Site Master Plan Project

We’re back with another bike to give away—and this time it’s for our members ➡️ become a member, at any level, by June 17 and you’ll be entered to win!

💥 AND for our current members, simply increase your membership amount and you’ll get entered to win.

A Stumpjumper Evo Soil Searching LTD. This bike comes with a limited edition ‘Soil Searching’ paint job. You won’t find this bike for sale so now’s your chance to be an owner.

➡️ visit santacruztrails.org/win to get entered. Good luck!🍀

Deadline to enter is June 17, 2024 at 11:59 PM PT. Some restrictions may apply.

⚠️PSA: tomorrow, Saturday, June 1, from 9am-1pm there are going to be a bunch of crews working on trails across the county (including high-traffic trails like U-Con, EMT, Engelsmans in Wilder Ranch, lower and upper DeLaveaga, and a lot more).

Please consider getting your ride in before 9am or after 1pm—it’ll be a better experience for you and the trail crews! Thanks for your understanding and happy National Trails Day.

Coupla favorite 📸 from the Dig Day with &

➡️ Come dig with us! With our Dig Day season on a brief hold until fall, National Trails Day will be the last opportunity to join us for a big, FREE, and catered day on the trails. Saturday, June 1, 2024. All over Santa Cruz County. Don’t miss out. Sign up today at santacruztrails.org/ntd !

📸: .lotus

New bike day for our recent sweepstakes winner, Jason Dilles.🔥😎

Jason is a Felton, CA resident and Spanish and English teacher at .cruz.high & . This Hightower is replacing his last bike of 9 years to become his go-to bike and his commuter from Felton to Santa Cruz. Thanks for the support, Jason!

*Worth noting is how well Jason is representing .cruz.high with his color selection: Matte CARDINAL Red 🖍️🐦‍🔥

Thanks again to the teams over at & for the support. Another new bike in the hands of a trail supporter! 💪