ECDM Single-Use Biking & Hiking Trails

El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve is a 2,900-acre preserve in the Santa Cruz Mountains, along Skyline Boulevard. It protects redwood and mixed evergreen forests and wildlife habitat, while offering more than 34 miles of trails for mountain biking, hiking and horseback riding. Midpen began acquiring the land in 1985 and has since managed the preserve to protect its natural resources and provide public access. It is one of Midpen’s most popular preserves for mountain biking.  

Project Overview 

In 2026, Midpen began a public process to evaluate opportunities to improve and reimagine existing trail(s) for bike-only use while protecting the health of the landscape. Staff will gather input from trail users and the broader community about their experiences, priorities, and preferences through online and in-person engagement. Public feedback, together with site constraints and environmental considerations, will help inform trail selection and the development of conceptual designs. A biking-only trail will be evaluated first, since the preserve already offers a hiking only trail to the Tafoni sandstone formation.

Background

During Midpen’s Vision Plan process in 2012, a number of projects were identified by the public as priorities in El Corte de Madera Creek Preserve, including development of a trail system leading to the parking area and restoration of damaged trails to improve water quality. 

Over the past few decades, the trail system at El Corte de Madera Creek Preserve has been improved to carefully balance recreation by multiple user groups with the health of the San Gregorio Creek watershed, as prescribed by the Watershed Protection Program.