The East Bay Regional Park District welcomed more than 3.5 miles of new trails in the 381-acre Magee Preserve in Danville on Monday.
The new trails will connect the Magee Preserve with the Sycamore Valley Open Space Regional Preserve.
The Sycamore Valley Open Space Regional Preserve, located within a region of rolling hills and valleys south of Mt. Diablo, is made up of two pieces, totaling approximately 696 acres.
The connection between the existing and new trails will allow visitors to go hiking, biking and horse riding.
“During a time where we’re all looking at our phones and looking at our devices for connectivity, this is the ultimate connectivity in our lives,” said Danville Mayor Renee Morgan at the Monday ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The town of Danville and the park district collaborated with advocates from Save Mount Diablo to make the new trails possible.
Voters and Save Mount Diablo backed a 2020 ballot measure that protected most of the Magee Preserve, limiting development on it to 29 acres.
“There was a lot of controversy about this Magee Preserve project, a lot of twists and turns,” said EBRPD Board President John Mercurio. “But with the town of Danville and the voters, it worked out the way it should have.”
Opponents of the ballot measure were worried that traffic and fire evacuations would be impacted or had other development concerns.
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