The Santa Clara River has very little public access, but a big 1,500-acre area between Ventura and Santa Paula has been set aside for conservation and public access.
The property, known as the Hanson site, is managed by The Nature Conservancy and is soon to be open for walking tours.
Our Sierra Club Chapter, notably Nina Danza on the Ventura Sierra Club board, has been supporting this endeavor all along, indeed pushing for it. The Santa Clara River is truly a great natural resource in our backyard.
For years, Danza has acquired permission to enter and lead hikes and take school classes onto the property. Visitors are amazed at how quickly it feels like being in wilderness surrounded by sounds and sights of native plants and animals.
Public amenities coming to the Hanson location include an outdoor classroom style amphitheater, trails, interpretive signs, and more, all of which are under construction and scheduled to open by Jan 2024.
State Coastal Conservancy (SCC) bought lands along the Santa Clara River over the last 20 years with the intent of creating a ‘parkway’. Though a continuous parkway proved not possible, several large ‘nodes’ have been obtained (see map). SCC enlisted The Nature Conservancy in a land management capacity, and they have been doing a good deal of removing Arundo donax and restoration to a natural state.
The Santa Clara River is mapped out by The Nature Conservancy to show its nodes, which are areas identified for land protection and restoration context. The Sierra Club has for years pushed for the Hanson node to become a public entry to the river.
Ventura Sierra Club raised funds over the years specifically to make donations toward equipping the Hanson visitor center, and that day is finally here. Watch for our logo on some part of the new site!
You can visit the site by getting on a The Nature Conservancy list or checking a calendar put out by them in the future.
Meanwhile, TNC is now taking volunteer applications for people to help run the site. If you want to get in on the ground floor, sign up and go through the online training and background check. For more information or to sign up, go to: https://tinyurl.com/HelpSCRiver