The Midpenninsula Regional Open Space District, which manages some of my favorite local open space areas in the Bay Area, is aggressively buying land to link a single trail from the top of the hill to the coast. That means I could walk down my driveway and cruise single track all the way to the ocean! Love it.

Below is an article about it from the Half Moon Bay Review. Sounds like a few locals still have questions.

- SD

PS - If you love the idea of running from Skyline to the Sea, be sure to sign up for Skyline to the Sea 50k on April 26. It was a lot of fun last year!

District announces plan to link Purisima to the sea

Two-year design involves purchase of four open space parcels

By Greg Thomas [ greg@hmbreview.com ]
Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, Jan 28, 2009 - 10:54:03 am PST

Hikers, bikers and equestrians could have new paths to explore two years down the line if a plan to acquire 1,300 acres of land south of Half Moon Bay comes through for the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.

The idea is to buy the space in between the Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve and the Pacific Ocean by 2011, a venture that would allow for the connection of the Bay Area Ridge Trail and the California Coastal Trail.

The corridor consists of four consecutive parcels of rolling hillsides, spotted with agricultural plots and a few residences. The parcels include the University of California’s Elkus Ranch Uplands, Blue Brush Canyon, Lobitos Ridge and Purisima Farms Uplands. District officials outlined the plan for about 30 stakeholders at a special meeting Thursday at Elkus 4-H Ranch.Several raised concerns pertaining to public use, trail routes, maintenance and the fate of the homes and farms currently operating on the area in question.

Bob Marsh occupies a sizeable chunk of property adjacent to the Purisima Farms tract. He wanted to know whether there would be adequate signs and fences to clearly delineate public and private property and keep cattle, horses and people from roaming rampant.

Open space officials said that until all four purchases go through they’re holding off on announcing any large-scale comprehensive designs.

The initial plan, District Senior Real Property Planner Sandy Sommer said, is to “maintain status quo” of the properties. “Farmland will continue to be farmed … After we go through a very public process thinking about what the future holds, we’ll start looking at other possibilities, but for now we’ll be keeping the things there that are there.”

That means little will change any time soon for the handful of residents, the farmers, the livestock and the natural habitat in the corridor.

“We’re going to try to find a balance between preserving the environment and allowing the public to recreate on the land and (maintaining) the agriculture,” District spokeswoman Leigh Ann Maze added.

Officials have their sights set on the 450-acre UC Elkus Uplands parcel first, and could wrap up the purchase as early as springtime. Purchase of the three remaining parcels would follow as district resources and time would allow, District Real Property Manager Mike Williams said.

The price of all four properties is estimated at $11 million. At the meeting, Williams said officials have applied for two state grants that could cover as much as $6.5 million of that amount.

Officials will discuss moving forward with the Elkus property purchase at a meeting in March, and say they might buy Blue Brush Canyon as early as summer.