At the February 6th Big Basin General Plan presentation in Felton, lots of familiar faces turned out to learn about potential changes to this 18,000 acre park and how the planning process was proceeding. For those who could not be there, we have summarized highlights of the plans being proposed and how plans may impact equestrians, point to more complete online information, and strongly encourage equestrians to comment to park officials.

Comments, requests and concerns are welcome, and will provide the equestrian community with excellent opportunity to speak out for things that will safeguard and enhance riding at Big Basin. Park officials who presented the plan seemed eager to listen to our comments and answer questions. And while the draft plans are each several pages long, there is really very little detail yet developed about how these concepts will manifest in terms of changes to trails or staging. Sending our comments and requests to park officials now will help shape how these details are incorporated.

The General Plan for Big Basin Redwoods State Park includes not one draft plan, but three draft alternative plans. The three plans have a great deal of overlap, but each has a specific leaning insofar as how much development and human impact will be encouraged or tolerated.

The map of Big Basin is changing. With the assimilation of “Little Basin”, all three plans include creation of a new park entry at “Saddle Mountain”, the closest portion of the Park along Hwy 236 from Boulder Creek. (Alternative 3 suggests this entry area to be used as supplemental entry, rather than a primary.) The new park entry at Saddle Mountain would be easier to reach when approaching HQ from Boulder Creek and will likely be developed as the main entry and parking area. Visitors could then take a shuttle, or walk, bike or ride their horses to the current HQ and several trailheads. Though dedicated equestrian parking near HQ was not detailed anywhere, all officials we spoke with thought it could likely be achieved. (The point is to get it on their to-do plan detail.)

Changes to the Rancho Del Oso (RDO) entry are also on all three plans, and here the plans are not all equal. Alternative 1 would increase access for all vehicles from Hwy 1 along the one lane road to the horsecamping and (tiny) day use staging area. This would undoubtedly make that modest space far less usable for equestrian access. Unless significant development ($$$) is planned with far more space than currently seems available, increased visitor vehicle access would be problematic for those arriving with rigs and horses. Alternatives 2 & 3, however, would limit vehicular access on the single lane road into RDO as it is currently, and not impact equestrian day use access. They would continue to encourage parking at Wadell Beach for non-equestrians, who would bike or hike the single lane road (as they do now) for access to the trailhead.

Another change proposed on all three Alternative Plans is to keep the Horsecamping area, but to somehow combine it with bike-in and tent camping use: “Allow tent, bike-in at existing equestrian camp.” A few flags pop up here. The space allotted for the horsecamp is already quite limited; dividing it would be unworkable. If an additional tent campground were to be added, it would need to be a significant distance from the horsecamp or used on a rotating basis, to avoid risking injury to youngsters wondering close to horses in camp. The additional concern of tents flapping about near horses in a usually windy locale also seems very problematic, especially with youngsters about.

Also, recent changes at RDO to increase the number of toilets at the trailhead has cut back the already limited day use staging. Additional space to stage at RDO would be very useful!

Potential Trail Changes are a concern to safety for horses. Alternatives 1 & 2 include this (Alternative 3 does NOT): “Provide a continuous trail (outside of the wilderness) from the ridge tops to the coast for bicycle access to natural areas and scenic points of interest.”  Keeping in mind that most or all of the existing horse & hiking trails that connect the ridge tops to the coast are steep, single-track trails with poor line-of-sight, it would take considerable changes to these trails to make them safe for multi-use. If safety is a priority for equestrians, then sharing some of these trails with bikes may not be possible.

Alternative 3 would seem to be most advantageous to equestrians, but I think it is more helpful to advocate for specific items, like reasonable staging space near HQ and at RDO, safety as a priority on multiuse trails, continuation of the Horsecamp in a manner that is safe and useful, some shorter loops for horses, and any additional items you feel are important.

The entire General Plan can be found at:
http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=21486.

We encourage you to contact park officials and comment on items that are important to you. While emails are welcome (generalplan@parks.ca.gov), written letters are most effective. (A sample letter can be found below.) Send letters to:

I am a local equestrian who attended the recent General Plan Meeting held in Felton. My husband and I enjoy riding in Big Basin about once a month, and stage at RDO a couple times a year. I want to thank you for all of your hard work on this plan and let you know that, as a long time member of the equestrian community and the Santa Cruz County Horsemen’s Association, I have some important feedback about the plans presented.

Our primary concern is safety. Equestrians have reason to fear when steep single track trails, particularly those with poor line of sight are shared with bicycles. I do not desire to exclude bikes from trails that can safely support multi- use, but safety has to be the primary concern. Local cyclists are very well mannered on our multi-use trails and we tend to share the trails quite amicably. It must be noted, however, that in some situations, for instance when the cyclists are going downhill on challenging terrain, their focus is directly in front of them, so they sometimes don’t notice horses until they are practically on top of us, a situation that causes many horses & riders to panic. We don’t want these “close calls” to become more prevalent, which is likely to happen if we share more of these steep, narrow and winding trails as proposed in Alternative Plans 1 and 2.

Another concern is the proposed sharing of our horsecamp at RDO. The mixture of bicycles and children (adults too) running around a camp with no knowledge of horse safety would be a hazard. I have heard that the horsecamp is underutilized, but have also heard complaints from horsemen that they were unable to book reservations because their phone calls where not answered or returned. (Perhaps a computer registration system could be created to take reservations.)

An important request that would be a great benefit to our community is dedicated equestrian staging. It is sometimes very difficult to find space to park rigs in Big Basin, and half of our already limited day use parking at Rancho Del Oso was lost with the recent construction. A flat and accessible area that could accommodate 5- 8 trailers near the main entrance (planned at Saddle Mountain) and 3-4 trailers at RDO would be tremendously useful.
And finally, it would be wonderful to be able to ride loop trails in the park. The shortest loop accessible to horses is 12 miles, up and down some rather steep grades. For average riders & their horses, these loops are major treks or completely beyond their abilities. Shorter loops of 5-8 miles would make for a wonderful outing.

I appreciate this opportunity to comment on the park plan.