Scenic forest trails near Santa Cruz to open to the public for the first time

The 6,000-acre Cotoni Coast Dairies, a swath of mountainous terrain with scenic woodlands, Pacific Ocean vistas and miles of newly-cut trails, will open to the public for the first time in August.

The one-time dairy-turned-national monument sits nine miles north of Santa Cruz at the edge of the Santa Cruz Mountains overlooking the ocean. Its opening this summer will cap years of fundraising and labor to convert the scenic landscape into a public recreational destination.

“This is really unparalleled access to roughly 5,800 acres along the Pacific Ocean,” said Zachary Ormsby, field manager with the Federal Bureau of Land Management, which is overseeing the project.

Over the last three years, a mix of professional and volunteer labor has worked to carve a network of nine miles of trail through dense woods and steep slopes. When the project opens this summer, it will include nine miles of trails, with nine more to come.

The feds tapped the Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship, a nonprofit organization that grew out of a mountain biking group, to raise $2 million to fund the project and supply the labor to complete its network of trails.

"People have been driving by this property for decades and decades and most people have not been up here," said Matt De Young, executive director of the Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship. “So it’s really going to open up a whole new part of the coastline for public recreation.”

De Young boasted the site and its sweeping views of the Pacific rivals the grand vistas of Big Sur. The initial nine miles of trail winds through a diverse topography that includes oak woodlands, redwood forests and coastal prairies. The trails consist of three continuous loops of various degrees of difficulty, with the first one flatter and able to accommodate adaptive cycling and the next two loops increasing in difficulty.

“You can come out here and just meander and have a relaxing stroll,” Ormsby said. “You can push it and get your steps in. The view is the reward.”

For decades the land operated as a Swedish family’s dairy, which later converted it into a co-op. The Trust For Public Land bought the property in 1998 and donated it to the Bureau of Land Management in 2014. Three years later President Barack Obama signed an agreement to turn the site into a national monument, which is a federal designation aimed at preserving the historic or natural features of a piece of land.

As a vestige of its history, a herd of large bulls still grazes on the property, standing sentry along the dirt road as visitors navigate through the site. As part of the land deal, cows and bulls will be allowed continued free range.

“It’s an easy place to find beauty and find enjoyment,” said Ormsby. “I look forward to hearing what other people get from it.”

Much of the trail work was performed by groups of volunteers who have spent the last three years etching paths through the dense thickets and rough terrain. They spent hundreds of hours shoveling and shaping the trails in areas that heavy machinery can’t access.

Among the volunteers was Tom Wilson, a local retiree who’s helped carefully hone the trails to accommodate both mountain bikers and hikers, creating sight lines so that each can see the other coming.

“Not many people get the opportunity to work in a national monument and build new trails,” said Wilson, tucked into a bright red construction helmet.

The volunteers also constructed wooden bridges across the area’s creeks with logs milled on site. Wilson stepped onto one of the bridges, beaming with pride at the group’s engineering feat.

“These were intended to be memorial benches,” laughed Wilson, admiring the wooden boards. “But we got to them first and built this bridge.”

Ormsby said the ultimate vision for the trails of Cotoni Coast Dairies is to connect to the adjacent 37 miles of trails. A 65-acre parking lot is currently underway to accommodate visitors, which the feds forecast to be about 300,000 annually.

BLM hasn’t yet announced a specific opening day but expects its opening will come this August. Ormsby believes the memories of all the delays and efforts to get the site ready will fade away once the trails open.

“I know when I come out here I feel like the place just gives me a giant hug," Ormsby said.