2030 Strategic Plan Overview

Click the button below to read our full 2030 Strategic Plan – or keep scrolling for an overview of all that we have planned!

VISION: We envision a future where outdoor adventures spark collective care for open spaces, helping communities and landscapes thrive together.

MISSION: We build essential connections to our environment through high-quality trails and community-driven stewardship.

For over 26 years, we’ve been building and maintaining high-quality trails that help folks get outside and explore nature. Our trails provide much more than ‘just recreation’– they play an essential role in physical and mental health, community and climate resilience, and emergency response. Between 2025 and 2030, we’ll build and upgrade trails that serve all of these critical purposes in our community.

As a trusted partner of agencies like California State Parks, CAL FIRE, the Bureau of Land Management, and the City of Santa Cruz, we can meaningfully contribute to our local Climate Action and Adaptation Plan and initiatives like the California 30 x 30 commitment to improve equitable outdoor access and conserve natural landscapes. To achieve these goals, we’ll invest in our staff’s technical construction capabilities and provide education for the next generation of trail and environmental stewards.

Over the past 2+ decades, we’ve seen how Dig Days, Trail Academy classes, and events like National Trails Day instill a sense of place and purpose amongst our thousands of annual volunteers. We believe that it takes collective stewardship like this to create a thriving natural environment and community. As part of our strategic plan, we’ll expand our trail programs to reach new communities and ignite more trail users to take action. Through free classes and fun volunteer events, we’ll strengthen neighbors’ connections to one another and to local parks and open spaces.

We want our trails and programs to serve people of all backgrounds and abilities. So we’re going to spend time listening, learning, and working with underserved communities currently detached from open spaces. Our work will bring the joy and benefits of the outdoors to a wider audience and grow a knowledgeable and engaged community that will support local landscapes for generations.

Trails are a critical connection point for residents to engage with both their environment and one another. While Santa Cruz boasts amazing natural beauty, many neighborhoods in the county are far away from open spaces or are only close to fragmented, tiny trail networks. We want to change that.

Over the next 5 years, we aim to shorten the distance between front doors and trailheads. We will work in partnership with other local organizations to link neighboring open spaces via trails and building trails and pump tracks in communities currently without those amenities. We’ll also integrate recreational trails within key commuting routes to create convenient, enjoyable, and sustainable mobility corridors. Whether seeking a dirt commute or a day-long hiking adventure, we believe that fantastic outdoor access is a cornerstone of our community’s long-term health and happiness.