Mad River Bluffs: Trails and Coastal Access

Introduction

The Mad River Bluffs (MRB) property is located in McKinleyville, California. Purchased from a private land owner, MRB is owned and managed by the McKinleyville Land Trust (MLT). In 2006, the MLT partnered with RCAA on a River Parkway Grant Program grant application to upgrade and expand existing visitor and coastal access facilities on its land. The MRB shares a border with the McKinleyville Community Services District's Hiller Park Sports Complex, a popular sports park and open space facility west of downtown McKinleyville. MRB is also within easy walking distance of the Hammond Trail. Based on a pre-existing management plan developed by the MLT (found as a PDF under the Documents section of this site), NRS will be upgrading existing trails, scenic overlooks, and access to the Mad River. In addition, new kiosks, signs, benches and other amenities will be installed, all by the end of 2010. All of these improvements are intended to preserve the scenic beauty and natural resources at MRB, and ensure all visitors have a unique and positive experience for many years to come.

Project purpose and scope

MRB attracts a wide variety of users to the property including hikers, dog owners, families, campers, a variety of bicyclists, surfers, paintballers, and there have been reports of occasional motorcycle use. Obviously not all of these uses are appropriate or compatible given the high volume of use on the property and desire to protect the natural resources. Trails have been constructed everywhere there aren't natural obstructions and some areas where visitors have spent considerable labor removing brush and creating new trails inland and down the bluff face. Erosion, drainage problems, and negative impacts to native vegetation are some of the many ongoing problems existing at MRB. Using a combination of defined and well rocked trails, closing and rehabilitating smaller unnecessary trails, clear directional and educational signage, dog waste cleanup stations, re-vegetation, and other project components, the end result will be a sustainable and friendly trail experience at MRB all year.

Improvements made to the MRB property are part of a greater project aimed at improving recreation, trail connectivity, and other types of access along the Hammond Trail and surrounding Hiller Park.

The MRB component of the Mad River Parkway project is a trail-and-access improvement and restoration project. Improvements and restoration activities for the property include:

• Establish a durable, well-drained trail surface on all trails open to public use
• Enhance safe access down the bluff face to the Mad River in two locations and provide for enhanced vertical access along the property near the top of the bluff face,
• Increase public safety at the bluff face with railings and other bluff-face trail decommissioning,
• Provide signage and other amenities for public benefit and resource protection,
• Improve access for ADA limited visitors, including an ADA parking upgrade, and
• Eradicate invasive, exotic species including scotch broom and ivy, and plant native trees

The intent of all improvements at MRB is to preserve the unique natural and scenic experience of the existing trail network while ensuring that trail use is sustainable and accessible year round. All amenity and trail designs will retain the beautiful, natural, and intimate nature of the MRB trails and environment to the greatest extent possible. Please see the MRB map .pdf file under the Maps and Images section of this site to review trail improvements and signage and trail amenity locations proposed for MRB.

Schedule of work

Beginning at the end of August you will be seeing storage containers and construction materials arriving on site and staged for the trail improvement work out at MRB. Preparation of the trail corridors to be improved, including corridor brushing, flagging, and initial materials staging will occur in the beginning of September. Beginning September 13^th, CCC crews will be working on site for a period of eight weeks, surfacing trails with rock, building stair structures, improving scenic overlooks, and removing exotic and invasive vegetation. The bulk of the improvement work will be done prior to December but improvement work will continue at MRB at a smaller scale through the end of 2010.