‘Prepare to be blown away': New national monument near Santa Cruz to open with trails for hiking, biking
Almost a decade ago, former President Barack Obama recognized a 'spectacular' stretch of coastal mountains and prairie near the Santa Cruz County community of Davenport with the prestigious designation of national monument. The public, however, was never allowed in.
That will change this summer. After years of unexpected delays preparing the site for visitors, the Bureau of Land Management has scheduled the opening of the 5,800-acre Cotoni-Coast Dairies monument for the afternoon of Aug. 15, a Friday.
About a 15-minute drive north of the city of Santa Cruz on Highway 1, the onetime ranch and adjacent lands will debut with its northern reaches opened for hiking, biking and sightseeing. This includes nine of 27 miles of planned multi-use trails.
The public will be able to access the full range of landscapes that the site is celebrated for, from broad marine terraces overlooking the Pacific Ocean to steep slopes spanning oak-dotted ridges, stream-lined canyons and redwood forest. Salmon and steelhead swim in the creeks, and jackrabbits, foxes and mountain lions roam the hills.
'When I get out there, I just feel like the place gives me a big hug,' said Zachary Ormsby, Central Coast field manager for the Bureau of Land Management. 'Visitors are going to feel that, too.'
The site's name pays homage to both the native Ohlone people, specifically a subgroup called the Cotoni, and its early 1900s history as a Swiss dairy farm.
The opening of the national monument to the public marks the end of a decades-long fight to keep the lands free of development. Sitting in the shadow of Davenport's shuttered cement plant, the site was spared from being absorbed by the factory. It also escaped unrelated proposals for oil drilling and a nuclear power plant.
Protection came in the late 1990s after plans emerged for the area's bluffs to be lined with luxury estates. The San Francisco-based Trust for Public Land and Save the Redwoods League, among others, raised money to coordinate a roughly $45 million acquisition before any homes were built.
About 500 of the original 7,000 acres that were purchased for conservation were conveyed to California State Parks while another portion was retained for agriculture. But the bulk of the property remained idle until a long-term caretaker could be secured. In 2014, 5,843 acres were transferred to the Bureau of Land Management.
Shortly after that, the environmental community launched a campaign to upgrade the federal site to a national monument, a status that brings greater safeguards for natural and historical features as well as a higher public profile for the area.
'We see the property as having these superlative conservation and recreation values,' said Sara Barth, executive director of the Sempervirens Fund, the Los Altos-based land trust that helped lead the effort to make the lands a monument. 'It's larger than some of the other protected areas in the region. It's also more ecologically distinct. It has a rich history to it, too.'
In January 2017, as one of Obama's final acts in office, the former president designated the federal site part of the California Coastal National Monument. Cotoni-Coast Dairies became the biggest onshore property within the existing monument, which includes a handful of distinguished spots along the Pacific.
The Bureau of Land Management had hoped to open Cotoni-Coast Dairies years ago, but concerns about potential crowds caused delay. Neighboring communities worried there was too little parking and too few toilets, while scientists and conservation groups wanted to make sure that sensitive habitat, areas for wildlife and historical points would be preserved.
Federal officials worked to address the issues. They've partnered with outside organizations to begin restoring watersheds for endangered coho salmon. Indigenous groups have surveyed culturally important plants on the property. Plans to rebuild an old 'cheese barn' are in the works.
Perhaps most visible, the Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship and its many volunteers have taken the lead on constructing the monument's growing trail network, having recently completed three interconnecting 3-mile loops.
The trails will be accessible from a new parking lot just north of Davenport near the junction of Warrenella and Cement Plant roads. Beyond serving hikers and bicyclists, parts of the multi-use trail system are designed for people using adaptive bikes accommodating mobility issues. The Bureau of Land Management hopes to open a second lot south of Davenport, with more trails, in the next few years.
More details on the Aug. 15 opening will be provided closer to the date on the Bureau of Land Management's website for the monument.
'We've all been driving by this place for years and years and years,' said Matt De Young, executive director of the Trail Stewardship. 'Prepare to be blown away.'
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