Jesusita Trail Project Scheduled for January 30

Local Volunteers Needed to Help Rebuild the Trail After Last Week’s Rain Storms.

Trails Council President Otis Calef checks out rain damage along Tunnel Trail. Though not catastrophic, it will require hundreds of hours of work to repair the damage.

Los Padres Forest Service, in coordination with local volunteer groups such as the Santa Barbara Mountain Bike Trail Volunteers (SBMTV) and SB Trails Council, will be hosting a work day on Jesusita Trail this Saturday, January 30.

The goal of the work day is to repair damaged tread, improve erosion control structures and to help deal with the impacts of last week’s storms. Meet at 9AM at the Santa Barbara Mission parking lot to sign in, get briefed and carpool out to the trail.

Volunteers should wear long pants, long-sleeve shirts, and wear study hiking-type shoes. Helmets will be required (bike helmets work fine) and eye protection is recommended. Bring gloves if you have them but there will be extra gloves and helmets available if you need them. Also bring snacks and lots of water as well.

Along with debris, rocks and wood littering the trails, some sections of Tunnel Trail saw more extensive hillside erosion as this photo shows.

Though the front country trails faired reasonably well given the fire damage and heavy amounts of rainfall, many of the trails, including the Jesusita, have received enough damage, either through erosion or debris falling onto the trail that a major volunteer effort will be needed though the rest of the winter and spring months to restore them to pre-fire conditions.

“I’m amazed how little serious damage there was to the trails like we saw in 2005,” Otis Calef, President of the Santa Barbara Trails Council said, “but there will still be hundreds of hours of work needed to deal with rebuilding damaged caused by this week’s rain. We’ll need lots of help.”

If you would like to find out more about how you can help out, contact the Trails Council (info@sbtrails.org) or SBMTV Trails Advocate Chris Orr (chris.orr@sbmtv.org) for more information.