Most visitors to Catalina, the tourist-friendly island off the coast of Los Angeles, never make it out of Avalon, the main hub and port. But the island is hoping to change that, opening 27 new trails that connect Avalon to other rural areas.
According to a story in The Daily Breeze, “The trails were added as part of Imagine Catalina, a multi-decade project to preserve the island and promote conservation among visitors. Offering visitors new incentives to leave Catalina’s city hubs to explore the back country fits nicely into that plan, said Suzy Gardner, chief development officer for the Catalina Island Conservancy.”
Among those who make an estimated 1 million visits to Catalina each year, only about 20,000 make their way into the island’s 42,000 acres of open space, something the conservancy is trying to change.”
‘We have to get people into the wildlands, so that’s the starting point is getting people out of Avalon,’ Gardner said to The Daily Breeze. ‘They’re not even aware that the trails exist or that hiking is available.’
You can read more about the newly opened trails here.
