Editor’s note: Cotoni-Coast Dairies, which was declared a National Monument in 2017, will be open to the public soon—but it isn’t possible to say exactly when. Here at Hilltromper we are keeping our eyes peeled for the opening announcement and we’ll update this page with more information about the park’s trails and its history. Here is a taste of what’s to come.
A 5,843 acre stretch of land that rises from bluffs up into the Santa Cruz Mountains, Cotoni-Coast Dairies (CCD) features rare coastal prairie, ancient oaks and redwood-forested canyons. Since the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) acquired the land in 2014, the agency has worked with public, private and community organizations to establish a protected public park for visitors near and far to enjoy. That effort included a successful coalition-based campaign led by the Sempervirens Fund, California’s oldest land trust, to petition Pres. Barack Obama to declare the place a National Monument.
Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship (formerly Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz) has been hard at work building trails for CCD with the help of volunteers and an Americorps crew. The first phase, costing $2.7 million, includes hiking, biking, equestrian, and ADA-accessible trails in the most northern and southern regions of the National Monument…