WATSONVILLE — On Saturday, the City of Watsonville, Watsonville Wetlands Watch and Trips for Kids Santa Cruz along with local residents will be celebrating National Trails Day with a bike ride on wetlands trails.
This ride will start at 9:30 a.m. at the Trips for Kids Launch Pad on Harvest Drive, where participants will be suited up with safety gear and a loaner bike. Trips for Kids will be fitting local youth individually with a bike, helmet, gloves, and providing skills instruction.
The National Trails Day event will highlight Watsonville’s trail system. Watsonville Wetlands Watch and City of Watsonville staff will guide participants through the Watsonville wetlands and share some of the sights and sounds you see out on the trails while teaching about the effort to conserve this habitat.
According to Watsonville Wetlands Watch, the Watsonville wetlands are the third largest freshwater wetland on the California coast and support more than 250 resident and migratory bird species along with a diversity of other wildlife, including 23 rare native plants and animals that are listed as threatened, endangered or species of special concern.
In May 2006, the City of Watsonville received an award from the California Association of Trails for the development of community nature trails that provide easy public access to this 800-acre freshwater wetland system. The trails also received recognition from the California Transportation Foundation, winning the 17th annual 2006 TRANNY award for Pedestrian Bicycle Project of the Year.
The City of Watsonville, Watsonville Wetlands Watch and partners are also working to expand the trails network to meet the goals of the City’s Urban Greening Plan and Trails Master Plan which envisions a 33-mile trail network that uses the region’s natural areas as greenbelts for transportation, recreation and conservation of wetlands and natural areas.
This event is sponsored by the City of Watsonville Public Works and Utilities Department, Watsonville Wetlands Watch and Trips for Kids Santa Cruz. To RSVP and for information, call the City of Watsonville Nature Center at 768-1622.
