Midpen announces completion of Alpine Road Regional Trail Improvement Project
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District has announced the completion of the Alpine Road Regional Trail Improvement Project near Portola Valley. Midpen crews were able to complete repairs on nearly 2.5 miles of trail while improving the health of the land. The trail improvements made by Midpen reestablished Alpine Road Trail as a safe and sustainable connection to a vast trail network in the Skyline corridor for hikers, bikers and equestrians alike.
One of the most important goals of the project was to help restore the health of Corte Madera Creek, part of the San Francisquito Creek Watershed. The project will reduce erosion and sedimentation into water bodies, helping improve habitat for wildlife that rely on the watershed such as steelhead trout (a federally threatened species).
Other work included the installation of a larger culvert to transport rainwater down the hillsides without destroying the trails and the installation of more than 200 feet of retaining wall to further protect the trail from landslides.
This project was identified as a top 10 project in Midpen’s Vision Plan and was completed with support from Measure AA. The project portfolio’s focus on land protection, habitat restoration, ecologically-sensitive recreation and climate change resilience. Measure AA really helped Midpen increase its capacity to take on and deliver large scale projects, such as the Alpine Road project, the restoration and public access to Mount Umunhum, the opening of Bear Creek Redwoods and more. You can learn more about all the Measure AA-funded projects and their progress here.
MidPen is marking the completion of this project by featuring the project and some of the trail-building crew members on an episode of Open Road, airing Sunday June 9 at 6:30 pm on NBC Bay Area. The video will be posted to its YouTube channel early next week after it’s aired. Additionally, there will be staff at the trailhead on Saturday, June 8 and Friday, June 14.
Photos by Frances Freyberg/Courtesy of Midpeninsula Regional Open Space (c) 2024
