TRAILS MAPPED THROUGH VALLEY PANELISTS FINISH THEIR ARDUOUS JOB.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - A community advisory group has mapped more than 433 miles of trails throughout the Santa Clarita Valley, and intends to convert their work into a valleywide trail network.

The Santa Clarita Valley Trails Advisory Committee formed in 2001 and completed the painstaking work this month. The group, which includes city, county and state and federal forest officials, is submitting their design for the county Department of Regional Planning for review and construction funding.

``About 95 percent of the field work is done,'' said Joe Inch, a city project developer working with the committee. ``But it still needs to go through the political process. ... We're all working with the same set of plans and we don't lose any pieces on the way. We don't want to have to scramble through a housing tract.''

Volunteers spent months with topographic maps and global positioning units to help design a viable recreational trail system that would connect the region with existing routes to the sea and the rest of North America.

``People went out there with dirt on their feet,'' committee chairwoman Laura Hauser said Friday. ``It shows the commitment people have. ... (Nature trails are) important to maintain and enhance the quality of life for future generations.''

The city of Santa Clarita maintains about 66 miles of trails, which the committee envisions as part of a larger network open to walkers, joggers, cyclists, horseback riding and other non-motorized vehicle activities.

``To really get the full value of the open space around us, which is owned by several agencies, we need to keep the trail connections and work together as a unified group,'' Inch said. ``The real goal is to have it go from the mountains to the sea (along the Santa Clara River).''

The group also plans to connect the network with the Pacific Crest Trail near Acton to access an artery that runs from Canada to Mexico, Inch said.

Hauser, also a city Parks and Recreation commissioner, hopes their work makes the county agenda soon.

``We have development that takes place all the time,'' she said. ``It's significant it gets through the planning process fast.''

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com