Santa Ana River Trail

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
A photo of the trail in Huntington Beach, looking upstream.

The Santa Ana River Trail is a multi-use trail complex that runs alongside the Santa Ana River in southern California. The trail stretches 30 miles from the Pacific Ocean at Huntington Beach along the Santa Ana River to the Orange/Riverside county line.[1][2] Planned extensions of the trail reach to Big Bear Lake in San Bernardino County. When completed, it will be the longest multi-use trail in Southern California, at approximately 100 miles (160 km).[3] In 1989, the Los Angeles Times described the path as "a veritable freeway for bicycles."[4]

Motorized bicycles have been permitted on the portion of the trail between Gypsum Canyon Rd. in Anaheim and Green River Rd. in Corona since 1980.[5]

History

In 1977, the bike path was designated a National Recreation Trail.[3] In 1990, safety on the trail became a concern when it was occupied by homeless populations and street gangs.[6] An increased police presence in 2009 led to a reduction in crime, though pockets of homeless camps have reappeared under some bridges along the trail.[6]

In 2005, heavy rains caused extensive erosion on the path, requiring repairs from the state at about $1 million, part of an approximately $43 million clean-up in Southern California occasioned by the disaster.[7]

Description

The asphalt-paved path is 12-feet wide, divided into two lanes so cyclists may ride abreast; however, cyclists must yield to pedestrians and runners (who are considered pedestrians by the law) at all times. There are a couple of different routes but one of them is waterman avenue est 37 miles from start to the nature preserve past the nature preserve is a dirt path with glass, thorns, etc.[8] As of 2006, 70 miles (110 km) of the path were complete; when finished, in conjunction with the equestrian path, the trail is expected to bridge three counties, touching on 17 cities and two national forests.[3]

Events

Since 1985, the trail is the avenue of the annual "Riverside to Surfside" bicycling event, formerly known as "Smog to Surf", in which cyclists ride the trail from Riverside, Corona or Anaheim to Huntington Beach.[9][10]

References

  1. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21207_5.htm
  5. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links