The latest, and likely last, major expansion of trails on Catalina Island will give visitors plenty of options to cut a path through the island’s oft-neglected backcountry.

The expansion began Oct. 14 with the start of Trekking Catalina, a plan to add nearly 27 miles of new trails throughout the island’s backcountry. The new pathways will be scattered along the island’s existing trails, creating smaller loops out of major hiking thoroughfares like the Trans-Catalina Trail. It’s a perk for the visitors looking to take advantage of the 42,000 acres of open space on the island, said Tony Budrovich, president and CEO of the Catalina Island Conservancy.

“The island has a good percentage of hiking trails on it, but it’s a tough island to hike,” he said.

The expansion is the largest trails project since 2009, when the more than 37-mile Trans-Catalina Trail opened, and it will likely be the last major expansion of trails on the island, Budrovich said.

The ideal schedule would see all the trails open by next summer, but weather and other factors during the construction phase could delay that date. In addition to the new trails, the conservancy has funding to install five restrooms in the island’s open space for visitors, and with additional money that could increase to eight facilities, Budrovich said.

Expansion for visitors

The expanded trail map was a common suggestion from visitors. People coming to the island’s main areas like Avalon or Twin Harbors wanted a way to enjoy other parts of the island without committing to an arduous trek, he said.

Rather than be forced to commit to a daylong or multiday hike along one of the island’s existing routes, the new extensions will give visitors greater options to spend a few hours walking through Catalina’s open space before heading back to a nearby city.

Of the estimated 1 million people who visit Catalina annually, only about 20,000 took advantage of the island’s hiking in 2015, Budrovich said. And while the new trails might not lead to a significant jump in visitors to the island, he said, they could improve the island’s image among hiking communities as a destination for trails.

The trails are being designed around the natural footpaths that have been broken in by deer and bison on the island, and other paths cut by hikers making their way to points of interest not on the current trails, he said.

“When people come to the island now, they meander to the points that they or others feel are important to see,” Budrovich said. “By formalizing the trail … we’ll turn that into a firm surface.”

Staying on paths

Creating the official trails has the added benefit of discouraging hikers from creating any more of their own paths, he said.

Building the trails might be the easier end of the equation; designing the meandering loops for hikers took about 10 different drafts to balance public access with the need to protect the island’s biological resources, he said. Designers took into account habitats for animals such as the island fox, which was listed as endangered until efforts on the island built up the fox population in recent years.

Trekking Catalina also will include new signs and other improvements around the island. Clear directions and signs to educate visitors on conservation and the island in general are a boon, Budrovich said.

Trekking Catalina comes on the heels of the June groundbreaking for the Catalina Conservancy’s new visitor center, The Trailhead. Part of the island’s Imagine Catalina strategic plan which also encompasses Trekking Catalina, The Trailhead also will give visitors a focal point for information on activities on Catalina and education from the conservancy.