LAS VARAS RANCH CA COASTAL TRAIL PROPOSED ALIGNMENT Santa Barbara Trails Council * Prepared by Ray Ford February 1,2012
The following notes accompany the Santa Barbara Trails Council map for the Las Varas Coastal Trail Alignment version 012912-1. These notes expand on the proposed alignment and provide an analysis of the proposed route as well as descriptions of engineering and design features SBTC anticipates would be needed for construction of the trail. The analysis builds upon information contained in an SBTC publication entitled "Oesigning the California Coastal Trail along the Caviota Coast: Rural Trail Oesign Options" which provides more detailed descriptions of trail design principles, potential trail design options, trail surfaces, bridges and - importantly for assuring that impacts are minimized on the Las Varas Ranch cattle operations - constructive ideas for use of fencing and signage to mitigate impacts. The alignment for the Coastal Trail through Las Varas Ranch consists of an 11,900' foot-long route (2.25 miles) that begins at the east end of the property near a sandstone-faced tunnel that goes under the Union Pacific railroad tracks to the beach and ends at the far west end of the ranch. Several site visits have confirmed the feasibility of constructing a trail along this route. As designed, with a 20-foot easement provided for the trail, the total acreage needed for the trail would be 5.43 acres. Section 1 From the UPRR tunnel, the first section of the CT would parallel a ranch road on a berm 10-15' off the road. The section is almost level and it would be very easy to construct a 4-6' wide trail along it.
Section 2 Trail begins a long climb up an 8% grade to the corner of the upper pasture. The route would meet trail design standards and pose no problem for the orchard or cattle operations. Picture below shows grade climbing up the hill. At the top of the hill the route comes to the corner of the pasture but could easily be routed outside the fence line.
Section 3 Trail follows pasture land west towards eucalyptus trees in the far distance. Though the group is walking inside the pasture, the trail will be routed on the other (south) side of the fence to minimize impacts with cattle operations. Trail signage and vegetation will playa role in minimizing issues. The bottom photo, looking back to the east, shows that there is ample space to locate the trail outside the pasture. Some engineering will be required to deal with potential impacts from gullying along a very small portion of this section.
Section 4-5 First of two relatively shallow gullies that can be traversed easi Iy by routing the trail down along the fenceline and back up or by diagonally around the north side of the gullies to create a more sustainable grade. Picture at bottom shows how easily it is to navigate through the 2 nd gully.
Section 6 First of two larger gullies just a hundred yards past the gullies in Sections 4-5. This gully has a steep entry point from the east that netessitates the trail going at a diagonal to the northwest along a less steep side-hill slope towards the dead hanging tree trunk that lays at an angle across the creek. At this point Or a few yards fur~her up the creek where the channel narrows to a width of about 10 feet, a bridge could be constructed to provide safe all weather passage across the creek and avoid damage to the riparian corridor. From the crossing the trail would then diagonal southwest up to the pasture fenceline.
Section 7-8 After another 100 yards along the pasture fence line, the proposed CT route comes to a second larger gully. This gully, however, is not as steep or deep as the one in Section 6. The proposed route would skirt the north edge of the sycamore trees and head down a very gentle grade to the bottom of the gully. At the bottom a small footbridge might be required during the winter months. The bottom right picture is looking back to the east after crossing the gully. The trail would diagonal southwest back up to the fence line and the next section of pasture.
Section 9 RR Crossing to bluff After exiting the last gully the CT route comes to a large pasture with historic ranch buildings shown in the distance. SBTC has proposed construction of a railroad crossing that would allow the trail to continue south onto the bluffs and continue along them to until it descends down to the beach near Edwards Point. SBTC has also proposed two alternative connecting routes that could either avoid crossing the railroad or provide an interim solution until funding and permitting for a rail crossing could be obtained. Section 10 - Alternative 1 Rather than constructing a railroad crossing at this point, Alternative 1 would continue the trail west along the south edge 1 of the pasture to existing at-grade crossing. The alternative route would I cross to the south side of the tracks, then follow a grass-covered road back along the railroad tracks to the east end of the bluff. The purpose of this alternative would be to provide a temporary route until permits and funding could be obtained for the construction of the UPRR crossing.
Section 11 - Alternative 2 Alternative 2 would avoid crossing the UPRR tracks entirely by continuing along the south edge of the pasture to the at-grade crossing (as does Alternative 1), but rather than crossing the tracks, the route would follow an existing ranch road down into Gata Creek canyon and then through a tunnel under the railroad currently used by the ranch for cattle operations. The picture above shows a hiker entering the tunnel. It is large enough for vehicle traffic as well as cattle. Once through the tunnel, the route would continue at an angle towards the bl uffs on the west side of Gato Creek. Vertical access to the beach near the mouth of Gato Creek would provide access for surfers as well as providing loop hiking opportunities for those who would like to walk along the beach on their return trip.
Section 12 SBTC has proposed that the best route for the Coastal Trail route proposed by the Trails Council wou Id cross the U PRR tracks at Section 9 because it keeps the trail along the bluffs and in doing so minimizes any impacts it would have on the cattle operations This trail follows an existing ranch road (shown on right) along the bluffs for 300 yards to a point where a small picnic table overlo oks Gato Creek and Edwards Point. From this location, the trail would descend along the outside of the fence line to the beach near the mouth of Gato Creek.
Section 13 Beyond the picnic table, a rough trail leads down along the fence to the mouth of Gato Creek. Though the hiker in the picture below is on the pasture side of the fence where cattle operations take place, there is sufficient room to locate the trail on the outside, or ocean side, of the fence. I I I I I- I Once at the mouth of Gato Creek there is plenty of beachfront to cross on the beach and then climb up the shale slabs shown in the middle right part of the picture. Even at higher tides the beach is passable to the shale slabs.
Sections 14 Survey party in picture on right shown as they cross the mouth of Gato Creek and climb up the shale. This route avoids sensitive riparian habitat. The picture below, taken from the west side of the shale, shows how gentle the ci imb is. It would be easy to design a short set of steps that hikers and equestrians could use.
Section 15 An alternative to crossing Gato Creek on the beach at the mouth is a creek crossing slightly to the interior, with a short 12-15 foot bridge over the creek. An existing cattle crossing of Gato Creek is situated along the fence line that provides an excellent spot for a crossing, as shown below. Though hard to see in the picture on the right, the ban ks of the creek on both sides are reasonably gentle and a small bridge would easily span the creek.
Section 16 After crossing Gato Creek the CT route climbs to the west blufftop and continues from there along the bluffs to the west end of Las Varas Ranch. The route follows existing ranch roads for a short distance then gains elevation along a gentlysloping hillside to the blufftop.
Section 17 Below, the CT route as it follows the blufftop west. It is expected the route wi II be located 25-40 feet from the blufftop as shown in the picture, along with fencing and signage to minimize impacts on the cattle operations.
Sections 18-23 For the last one-half mile the proposed CT route flows the blufftop. Along the way there are a number of small gullies and washes that are easily passed, either by crossing them directly or via diagonal routes that cut across one side of the gully then switch back towards the bluffs to climb back out of them. Most of the washes are very shallow and easily crossed. As shown above, much of the western part of the bluffs is covered by stands of coastal sage, creating separation from the cattle operations. One of many small drainages on the western portion of the ranch that are easily navigated through. The trail will contour in and around drainages such as this to minimize erosion.
Section 24 UPRR crossing. The route re-crosses the UPRR tracks at the west end of Las Varas Ranch then exits onto Cal trans property. Similar to the first crossing (Section 9), the tracks cross through a 15-foot-deep cut, thus facilitating the possibility of an overhead crossing. Once on the mountain side of the UPRR tracks the route will turn west and exit Las Varas Ranch property, descending into Las L1agas Canyon onto Cal Trans land. SBTC proposes a short 20-foot bridge to cross the creek and then climb up to the exit at Highway 101 at EI Capitan Ranch Road.