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Contra Costa Marketplace - June_2015

These Trails Were Made For Trekkin’ By Matt Larson El Cerrito’s trail map just got a little trekkier It can be easy to forget that we live in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. California provides us with some of the most diverse natural environments on the planet, as well as some of the best weather to enjoy it. You might think you’d have to travel great distances to enjoy such things, but if you live in or around El Cerrito, think again. The El Cerrito Trail Trekkers began just over 5 years ago to form and/or maintain an increasingly elaborate trail system in El Cerrito. The idea spawned from the curiosity of their current president, Dave Weinstein. “It was an outgrowth primarily of my walking around town with my dog noticing a lot of things that looked like trails,” he said. “Some I realized were trails, and some I knew about, but then I started noticing a lot of things that looked like lost trails and that got my interest up.” Today, the El Cerrito Trail Trekkers website has information on over 50 walkable trails in the area spanning about 90 acres of land on El Cerrito’s Hillside Natural Area. They’re currently in the final stages of adding about 10 more acres to that with the acquisition of the Madera Open Space. You may recall a story on the Trail Trekkers in our February 2014 issue. At the time, the Trail Trekkers were working with the City of El Cerrito to acquire the Madera Open Space which would connect the north and south sections of the Hillside Natural Area. Long story short, the Madera Open Space has been acquired! At this writing it’s not officially in the city’s hands, but


Contra Costa Marketplace - June_2015
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