Paging Hikers, Bikers: New Coastal Trail Near Half Moon Bay Opens

By: Bay City News Service

A brand new coastal trail in San Mateo County was unveiled at a ribbon-cutting ceremony about three miles south of Half Moon Bay on Thursday afternoon.

The Cowell-Purisima Trail stretches along three miles of coastline and was built through a partnership between the Peninsula Open Space Trust and California State Coastal Conservancy.

Peninsula Open Space Trust first acquired the surrounding land in 1987 and has worked with the conservancy and California State Parks to build and maintain parks and trails.

The conservancy awarded the Peninsula Open Space Trust with $3 million for construction of the trail in 2008, which was expected to take about six months. However, unexpected difficulties, like a freeze in state expenditures from bonds, led to delays.

A major portion of the trail's construction included three bridges over creeks flowing to the Pacific Ocean.

The Cowell-Purisima trail is open to hikers and bicyclists, as well as those in wheelchairs, as most of the trail is "flat and broad and appropriate for wheelchairs," said Nina Nowak, director of communications for the Peninsula Open Space Trust.

A small portion of the trail goes over steep banks near Purisima Creek and only that area is not traversable by wheelchairs.

Along the trail there are sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean, mountain vistas, and local agriculture where farmers grow artichokes and Brussels sprouts.

Because of the adjacent farmland, the northern section of the trail will only be open on weekends from June to September. The southern section will be open every day year-round.

The conservancy plans to connect the trail to the Coastal Trail, a planned 1,200-mile trail that will span the West Coast from Oregon to Mexico.

About half of the trail is now open to the public, and the conservancy plans to build the rest of it mile by mile.