City Seeks Legal Access to Blue Mountain

GRAND TERRACE >> Grand Terrace, home to more than 12,000 people, also known as the “Blue Mountain City.” Blue Mountain stands 1,200 feet tall above the Inland Empire and is the pride and joy of many residents in the local cities of Grand Terrace, Colton, Riverside and more. It is also a frequently-hiked location. Some residents live just down the street from the mountain’s hiking entrances, allowing them to walk directly to the mountain itself to head up and down in two hours-time. There is only one problem, however. Blue Mountain, loved by many, is not accessible to all. In fact, it is hardly accessible to anyone – legally. “We’re the Blue Mountain City with no real access to the mountain,” said G. Harold Duffey, Grand Terrace city manager, in a previous article with City News Group. The City of Grand Terrace owns about 20 acres of land on Blue Mountain, which extends for several miles. That land can be reached via the Van Buren Boulevard and Observation Street entrance, but there is no trailhead, which means residents have to trek through privately-owned property in order to get there. Once a year, the nonprofit group Friends of Blue Mountain hosts a hike to the top. On this day only, it is legal for residents to climb the steep hills to get to the peak. The hike is in its ninth year of running, with next year marking its decade anniversary, and attracts between 800 and 1,000 people each year. A project spearheaded by Duffey and Darren Rector, MIG landscape architect and design consultant, however, is trying to make the other 364 days of the year easier for hikers and residents to be able to access Blue Mountain. The Blue Mountain Nature Trail is part of a larger City Council project, which aims to assess all the Grand Terrace parks and determine their capacities so they can be brought into compliance. Advisory groups were formed for several parks, including a skate park, the new Grand Terrace Dog Park and the Blue Mountain Nature Trail. All three parks are currently under review by MIG. The city’s goal is to purchase 120 acres of land on Blue Mountain from private owners to turn into public land, and then to begin developing trailheads to make access easier for residents. “The goal is that (when we have) a finished product, we can say, ‘State of California, federal government, you have money for trails, we have a product ready to go,’” Duffey said in a previous article with City News Group in relation to funding. As of late January, Friends of Blue Mountain had already raised $50,000. “If the city gets the plan, then they have to get some money from grants or something,” said Denis Kidd, president of the Friends of Blue Mountain and owner of about 120 acres of Blue Mountain land. If the city is successful, hundreds and even thousands of residents will have official legalized access to the mountain they love. “This trail can mean a lot, both for the city of Grand Terrace and just the activities that can be done on the trail,” said Nina Mohammed, a resident of Grand Terrace and assistant program director for the Inland Empire Biking Alliance. To find out more about the Blue Mountain Nature Trail project, contact the city manager’s office at 909-824-6621 (extension 240).