coast to crest
For the past several decades, a group of environmentalists, urban planners, and private citizens have maintained an unusual relationship with the City of San Diego and other San Diego-based communities. Utilizing a combination of grants, private funding and support from the city, the San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy (SDRVC) and San Dieguito River Park and Joint Powers Authority (JPA), have purchased and maintained land along the watershed that runs from Volcan Mountain in Julian to the San Dieguito Lagoon, which is situated on the border of Solana Beach and Del Mar.
What started as a grassroots effort in the 1970s to protect the San Dieguito Lagoon from development has slowly and quietly grown to incorporate protected land spanning the length of the entire San Dieguito watershed. Over the years since the conservancy’s foundation in 1986, the River Park has grown to include more than 50 miles of land, with trails and educational resources open to the public. It is the most intact watershed remaining in San Diego County and contains a variety of diverse ecosystems, plants, and wildlife.
This year marks a turning point for SDRVC and the JPA. Of the 71 miles of the planned Coast to Crest Trail—a multi-use trail that, as its name implies, will connect the entire watershed from the North County coast to the peak of Volcan Mountain—49 miles are complete. This means that sometime in the next couple of years, the Coast to Crest Trail should be complete, marking the realization of the dream of SDRVC founders, and a testament to the uncommon collaboration between San Diego’s elected officials and the public in the name of environmental conservation.
“It’s a very unique collaboration,” says Shawna Anderson, the executive director of San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority. “There aren’t many arrangements like this when it comes to conservation.” Indeed, according to a 2019 study in the Journal of Science, the growth of SDRVC’s footprint goes against an alarming recent national trend which showed that, even in the wake of climate change-related disasters brought on by overdevelopment, 90 percent of reductions in U.S. federal lands have occurred since the year 2000.
The success of these long-standing partnerships also means that a new generation of San Diegans will soon be able to experience the full benefits of this increasingly rarified open space preserved by SDRVC and JPA.
The efforts to reach a broader base of hikers, bikers, equestrians, and environmental stewards in the era of TikTok will fall largely on the Conservancy’s small staff, headed by the recently appointed executive director Cheryl Goddard. Prior to coming on board at SDRVC, she spent 20+ years behind the scenes creating open space for San Diegans as an environmental planner for the City and a planner in the Development Services Department in Chula Vista, where she resides.
It’s obvious when she talks about her favorite hike, Volcan Mountain, that her work is what brings her joy. “Nonprofit work is about passion,” says Goddard. “And my passion has always been conservation of natural resources, and accessibility to nature… It’s where my mind can relax.”
As executive director, Goddard will not only be treading on some familiar ground as she be puts her expertise in land-use permitting to good use, she’ll be creating new trails figuratively for the organization as well. Her goals are to raise awareness of SDRVC’s mission and to make the River Park a source of local pride and a regional attraction to all San Diegans and visitors to the area, cementing its status as part of the landscape. “Open space is the best legacy that we can leave for future generations,” she says.
She’s also stepping out from behind the scenes a bit as she looks to revamp SDRVC’s website and social media presence to better highlight the diversity of the River Park’s users. “I need to find a place for all the different stories,” she muses. “I want to share all of the ‘why’s’ of the Park.” Her final goal? To hike or bike the entire trail system within the River Park.
So, if you’re on one of the trails that follows San Diego’s longest and oldest intact watershed, you may run into Goddard along the way. She’ll be the one carefully noting aspects of each trail: the best views, how each path looks different at various times of day, the parts of each trail that need mending, and where wildlife or vegetation will need replenishing. She’ll also be observing who else is walking with her. And she’s looking for your story.
