Coast Wilderness Park may get first official trail in decades

A trail used informally by hikers and cyclists for years in the 7,000-acre Laguna Coast Wilderness Park could be the first official route added since the park was dedicated in 1993.

OC Parks is working to get approvals from several state and federal agencies before the mile-long Lizard Trail would open to the public, Supervising Park Ranger Barbara Norton said.

At its upper-most point, the trail weaves down from Bommer Ridge to Laurel Canyon.

Bicycle tire tracks signal that visitors to the park know of the trail and are undeterred by a sign that says the route is closed.

The county has spent the last several years analyzing the entire trail system, assessing which trails are used by the public along with any potential environmental harm, Norton said.

“After a decades-long review, we’ve come up with a rough template of what trails should be closed and what should be open,” said Norton. Certain trails were blazed by cattle ranchers.

Opening the Lizard Trail would create a viable connection from Bommer Ridge to Laurel Canyon, and no realignment would be needed, minimizing any threat to flora and fauna, Norton said.

“This is the first opportunity to see how opening a trail plays out,” Norton said.

Current rules allow park rangers to ticket anyone setting foot on an unauthorized trail. The fine ranges from $50 to $500, Norton said.

That is not to say unauthorized trails can be ignored.

To prevent erosion, volunteers from the Laguna Canyon Foundation planted laurel sumac, lemonade berry and California sagebrush along the Lizard Trail’s border while crews strategically embedded rocks in the dirt to funnel rainwater to either side.

“It’s giving the trail stability so the dirt doesn’t wash down the hill,” said Hallie Jones, executive director of the nonprofit Laguna Canyon Foundation, which is supporting OC Parks on the project. Water allowed to flow straight down a trail can create deep gouges, Jones added.

The project continues a recent trend of the Laguna Canyon Foundation partnering with the county to improve trails in open space.

In June, the county reopened the Emerald Canyon Trail after it sustained extensive damage from heavy storms in 2010. Reconstruction included building a 60-foot bridge over an area hit by a landslide.

“It’s important to do it properly to make sure we’re setting the right precedent with attention paid to protecting the habitat,” Jones said. “We need to keep people safe. It’s balancing recreational opportunities with protecting plants and animals.”

Norton said it would be premature to estimate when the Lizard Trail would officially open.