The Ridge Trail is just one of the areas where dirt bikes and motorcycles are banned but have been seen weekly at Fiscalini Ranch Preserve in Cambria.
“They are very hard on the trails because they go very fast and they corner very fast and it digs into the trail,” said Kitty Connolly, Friends of the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve executive director.
Regular e-bikes are allowed on certain trails at Fiscalini Ranch.
“E-bikes are allowed to go wherever bicycles are allowed to go and that’s most of the trails but not the boardwalks,” Connolly said.
But she says there is a difference between e-bikes and fully electronic vehicles.
“An electric bicycle with pedals, it’s called pedal-assisted, and it’s covered by the same laws as bicycles, but fully motorized or fully electronic vehicles are not allowed on the ranch. Otherwise, we’d have ATVs, and people would drive their trucks,” Connolly said.
Connolly says repeat offenders are riding the upper trails like the Ridge Trail on a weekly basis.
“The riders that I know about are high school and early adult,” she said.
Mark Kantor walks and rides his e-bike at the ranch multiple times a week and says he’s seen people on dirt bikes along the upper trails.
“You can tell from far away because they leave a trail of dust behind them and kick up the trail composition. It’s dangerous, and they can run into people who are out there trying to use the trails in a nice peaceful manner,” said Mark Kantor, Cambria resident.
Connolly says if someone is caught riding a fully automated or electric vehicle at the ranch, they could be issued a ticket from the sheriff’s office.
“We have engaged with law enforcement to reduce the number of times it happens,” Connolly said.
