Cabrillo to Nisene Marks Park trail opens to hikers, runners and bicyclists
The Cabrillo Connection trail will open to the public on Friday, March 28, 2014 at daybreak. This new County-owned trail will provide an easily accessible route between Cabrillo College and the main western multiuse trail into The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, and can be used by hikers, runners, leashed dogs and their owners, students, and bicyclists from daybreak to dusk seven days/week. An event to celebrate the opening of the Cabrillo Connection will be held on Saturday, March 29, 2014 at 1p.m. Everyone, including kids, bikers, and leashed dogs, is encouraged to show up with drums, kazoos, horns and other noise-makers for a celebratory parade through the moderately-challenging, mile long trail as it crosses through grasslands and corridors of oaks, madrones, and firs.
The event on Saturday will start at Kamian Way off Danube Dr. in the Vienna Woods neighborhood in Aptos. The Cabrillo Connection is a Santa Cruz County trail easement that was obtained in 2008 as a settlement between the County and the owners/developers of the privately owned acreage to allow the owners to secure approval for their hillside home. In return, the owners agreed to provide the 16-foot wide trail easement through their property to the County. For over 60 years hikers, bikers and dog walkers used the many trails that cut through the acreage to access the key western entrance to the Nisene Marks State Park until the property was purchased by the developers and access was denied.
Now, thanks to the dedication and determination of a number of people this new County trail is a reality and open for public use. Members of Nisene2Sea, and, in particular, Kathryn Britton, one of the organization’s founders, have worked tirelessly for this access trail, as did former Supervisor Ellen Pirie and her analyst, Robin Musitelli, who both spent years negotiating with the owners to establish and secure the trail route. For more information about the trail and the work of Nisene2Sea, please contact Kathryn Britton at 831.688.7724 or [email protected]. Nisene2Sea is dedicated to preserving open space corridors for people and wildlife. Caption: The Santa Cruz County Cabrillo Connection trail will formally open to the public on Friday, March 28, 2014. The trail connects Cabrillo College with the main Western entrance to The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park at Mesa Grande Drive in Aptos and travels through native grasslands, oaks, madrones and firs.