For those who may not have heard/seen this read below for a chance to ride some great trails. JamR may have more info/input on this Wilderness Access Day- Hike and Bike- EARTH DAY CELEBRATION! EARTH DAY CELEBRATION!!! [FONT=arial,Times,serif]https://www.irvineranchlandreserve.org/activities/registration_step1a.asp?tid=0&aid=1862[/FONT] Trail lovers, this one is for you. Enjoy self-guided access in Irvine's Open Space Preserve-South. Designated trails will be open for self-guided hiking and mountain biking from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Trail users are allowed to enter the preserve trails up to one hour prior to closing time and no later. Park closes at 3:00 p.m. Helmets are required for biking on the trails. Self-guided, ages 17 and under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, distance and level of difficulty dependent on trail. Pre-registration available, but not required. In addition to the regular access day festivities, we will be celebrating Earth Day with activity tables and information booths hosted by the City of Irvine, the Irvine Ranch Conservancy, and TeamKids! Come see and hear what our Science team is working on, get information on volunteering, make an Earth Day craft or make a Native American basket or piece of rope. Native American crafting classes will start on the hour beginning at 10 am, the last class starts at 2 pm! Come join us for an hour or the day, pack a picnic lunch, and check out the spring blooms of wildflowers blanketing the hillsides! Happy Earth Day! Date: 4/19/2008 Start Time: 9:00 AM Type: Hike and Bike Length: Varies Difficulty Level: Spaces Available: 253 [FONT=arial,Times,serif]https://www.irvineranchlandreserve.org/activities/registration_step1a.asp?tid=0&aid=1862[/FONT]
since this is in bommer canyon, does that mean that shady canyon is closed. i know this has come up before, but i forget... btw: every day is earth day.
What do you mean Shady Canyon is closed? The road? The golf course? The trail? Bommer Canyon is off of Shady Canyon, which was Bonita Canyon Rd. at one time.
During the Wilderness Access day, all the trails within the City of Irvine Open Space Preserve South are open for use with a few exceptions. Users just need to check in at the Bommer Canyon Trail Head to obtain a "Day Use Permit" prior to entering the trails. Just pick up your Permit and have fun on the trails. This will be the first access day that the Fox Run Trail will be open for use. The only trails not open for use yet are the future connection to LCWP via their Stagecoach North Trail, and a connector trail between the Rabbit Run and Fox Run Trails (Shown in Red on the attached map) The County is doing some construction in the Laguna Lakes area, so the Stagecoach North connector will be opened once their construction is complete. And the connection between Rabbit Run and Fox Run is currently under construction and will be opened by the May access day. Also by the May access day there will be three new bridges installed on the single track trails to connect them all together over the creek crossings. Chopper and I have pretty much completed most of the trimming, so the trails will be in great shape for Saturday. Chopper will finish Rabbit Run tomorrow and I'll finish Ridge Route. Should be a fun day of riding. Hope to see everyone out there on Saturday. I'll be on the Blue Kona F/S SS, so look me up if you're out there that day.
Thanks JamR. How about a quick compare/contrast between Fox and Rabbit Run(s), since this is the first Fox is open. What do you think of it?
What about Little Sycamore Trail (it's one of the orange ones)? I'm told it's always been off-limits to MTB'ers. Will it be open to riding?:?: It's always looked like a fun descent (visible from the 133).
Thnx JamR...I knew you'd pipe in with some input....very cool to post the map. Is the following link accurate for finding the Trailhead? Is Bommer the ONLY place to start that day and get a pass? http://www.cityofirvine.org/depts/cs/openspace/facilities/bcmap.asp
thanks, jamr- you guys are doing some great work out there. art- little sycamore was closed to mtbers when the nix center was opened. it's not a very good multi-purpose trail (narrow/straight/steep/loose rocks), so i'm sure it will remain hiker only.
Try to answer the questions at one time. Little Sycamore is part of LCWP as pointed out earlier, and is designated as hiking only. On the attached map.....the orange trails are LCWP and are open seven days per week. The red trails are City of Irvine Trails not yet opened for self-guided access during the Wilderness Day. The yellow trails are the City of Irvine trails that will be open for self-guided access during the wilderness access day, and are used weekly for the Docent Led rides and hikes. Fox Run is different than Rabbit Run but still technical in it's own right. It does not have any of the rock features that Rabbit Run has but has some loose/steep sections that are a blast. And for now.....the only place to check in to get your Day Use Permit is at the Bommer Canyon Trail-head. We are discussing options for additional check-in locations, but it's a matter of logistics and volunteers since all the users are required to sign a waiver prior to using the trails, and they need to have their Day Use Permit in their possession also prior to entering the City trails. The Day use passes are also required to be turned in at the end of the event so the Staff and Volunteers can keep track of the number of people still out on the trails towards the end of the access day so they know how many people to be looking for during the end of day sweep of the area. I hope this helps. Just park at Bommer Canyon and get your Day Use Permit, then enjoy the trails. Edit: The map link posted by xhuskr is accurate for the directions to the Bommer Canyon Trail-Head. Just make sure everyone parks there or rides in on Bommer Canyon Road to get their permit. The area has quite a few people (Volunteers, IRC Staff, and the Irvine P.D. Open Space Patrol Rangers) who are out there to greet people and to check for the Day Use Permits. So if you ride in from another area, you will more than likely be sent out the same way. As stated earlier......in the future, there may be options for more entry points, but for now the Bommer Canyon Trail Head is the only check-in/check-out location. As always....I'll keep everyone posted as things progress in the future. Thanks again!
just to clarify: people need to enter from the west/bonita canyon/culver side, because shady canyon doesn't go through from the 405 side. but, according to the map, the bike path connects so you can ride a loop. also- i've hiked bommer canyon once and ridge route looked like a s/t dropping down. am i wrong?
Parts of Ridge Route are S/T however some of it is wider. The recently approved Recreation and Resource Management Plan calls for it to be a 4' wide multi-use trail since it is the primary exit for the equestrian tours starting from the Quail Hill Trail Head. It's currently cleared to 4' near the bottom where it is used frequently for kids hikes and programs, in order to minimize the ticks due to the overhanging brush, and because of the rattlesnakes out and about this year. Further up by the rock drop and the equestrian bypass trail through the coastal sage habitat; it's more of a single-track varying from 2 to 3 feet. The Rabbit Run, Fox Run, Cattle Crest, and Shady Oaks Trails are authhorized as 2' single tracks so we keep them narrow. Right now they are just a tad wider (around 30") because we cut them slightly wider in order to let them narrow up during the growing season so we won't have to deal with heavy trimming during the dry season where the risk of fire is greater. Also right now, the areas where the bridges are going are being prepared, so there's a little evidence of constuction. By this time next year all the trails should be groomed and matured into nice narrow tracks; and by the May access day the three bridges (two 60' and one 70' long) will all be in place and the connection between Rabbit Run and Fox Run will be open. I always welcome any suggestions pertaining to these trails, so after riding them; if you see any areas that you have suggestions on; please feel free to shoot them to me, and we'll definitely discuss them. The City of Irvine wants these trails to be something special and my job with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy is to try to plan, design, build, and maintain as diverse a system of trails as possible. I'm always open to suggestions. See ya on Saturday.
Looking forward to seeing everyone out there tomorrow. If you have not been to the area, I'd be happy to show you around the trails......however be advised that I sometimes go the hard way (fun way) which for me on the SS includes some short hike a bike. Also I'm known to take mid ride coffee breaks at the local Starbucks in Quail Hill....so you're welcome to join me there also.....my treat! I'll be at the Bommer Canyon Staging area by 9:00 am on the blue Kona Cowan SS. Looks like it's going to be nice weather tomorrow.
Any chance of these access days occasionally being on a Sunday so us folks who work on Sat. can go too?
I've already brought that subject up at a meeting and we're currently looking at a couple of options. I'll keep everyone posted as things progress. Thanks! It was a nice day of riding. I pretty much took in almost every trail, and made my usual Starbucks booster stop. Keep checking the website for other upcoming events... www.irvineranchwildlands.org We have another "Freeks Loop" coming up in May, and our "Epic" ride in June. Both are posted and open for registration. See ya at the next one!
Adam, it was good meeting you today. The trailwork you've done is wonderful. All told, I was both impressed and surprised with the 'new' singletrack trails. Rabbit Run is a blast... the rock garden is challenging! Shady Oaks was great as well (nice rock features and even some slickrock to ride!). My only suggestion would be a small bridge over the steep streambed at the bottom of Shady Oaks right before it meets the fireroad. This is definately an area I want to ride again. :clap:
Thanks! By the next access day in May, a bridge will be in place at that location. There are three bridges going in over the next three weeks that will make the permanent connections to the single-tracks and will allow for the final closure of the abandoned canyon ranch road. You probably saw the small excavator at the bottom of the Fox Run Trail this morning. It's there to get the locations ready for the bridges. We just wanted to wait until after today to get the abutments cut. Bridges will be flown in shortly......I'll shoot some pic's for everyone when we fly them in. Nice to meet you today.
Yep a big thanks to Robin and Adam, it was good seeing ya both today, it has bee awhile. We spent many hours out there today much of it on single track. Lorabee hung in there. I thought it was going to be a easy ride but we ended up ride for a long time 4+ hours, she hung in there great for someone on the bike for such a short time...good stuff. Here is a couple of pics from my ride with Art and Laura. Dean
Hera ya go!.........the bridges will be ready for riding by the May Wilderness Access Day. Five bridges in all that will connect the single-tracks and allow for the closure and restoration of the existing non-sustainable ranch road. Will make for a really nice configuration of single-tracks.
