The public is invited to celebrate and provide feedback on the first year of the East Bay Regional Park District’s Briones Pilot Project at a community meeting on Saturday, June 15, at Briones Regional Park. The community meeting will begin at 10 a.m. at the Crow Picnic Site adjacent to the Alhambra Staging Area.
Launched in April 2023, the Briones Pilot Project is a two-year project intended to test a variety of trail management strategies. The project assesses ways to enhance trail safety and improve the trail experience while protecting habitat, wildlife, and watersheds. The pilot project is limited to a specific 1,600-acre zone in the northeast corner of Briones Regional Park.
The project established specific rules limiting trail use within the pilot project zone and for two trail segments adjacent to the zone, such as hiking only, biking only, or biking/hiking only, and direction of travel. On weekends, trail use within the zone alternates days between bicycle and equestrian use based on odd and even calendar dates.
The project aims to address increased trail and park usage in Regional Parks over the past several years, restore natural habitat by closing illegally constructed “bootleg” trails in the pilot project zone; protect resources, habitat, wildlife, and watersheds; enhance the trail user experience; and increase volunteer engagement in trail maintenance and habitat restoration. Protecting wildlife and restoring natural habitats are top priorities of East Bay Regional Park District and of the Briones Pilot Project.
“Over the past year, the Park District, with the help of volunteers, has restored 3.5 miles of bootleg trails and maintained and improved more than four miles of hiker and biker trails that have been incorporated in the pilot project,” said East Bay Regional Park District Trails Program Manager Sean Dougan. “We continue to welcome and encourage public feedback and cooperation as the project moves into its second year.”
In 2023, volunteers logged over 1,000 hours maintaining approved trails and closing or restoring others. Additionally, according to trail counter devices installed by the Park District, trail use compliance by bikers and equestrian users is at least 78 percent as measured during weekend trail use. Self-reported data in the GPS-based exercise app, Strava, has been measured at 90 percent or higher on all trails in the first year of the project. The Park District’s compliance goal for all user groups is 80 percent or higher.
For more information, go to ebparks.org/briones-pilot-project.
