ORCUTT - After months of work the Orcutt public trail system will officially open. This, after several trails were shut down last year.
Monday the grand opening ceremony will take place, but hikers, bikers, dog walkers and horse back riders have been using the trails since Friday.
For decades people used these trails in the Orcutt Hill area without a problem.
But, last year the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department started cracking down on trespassers. The trails had always been private property, owned by oil companies and private ranchers.
In light of this, the county assumed ownership of more than 3-hundred acres of the Rice Ranch development to create a recreation area.
Led by the organization, Santa Maria Valley Open Space, new trails were created and old ones were cleaned up and connected to the new ones.
County officials want the public to use these trails and abide by the rules. Eventually there will be eight to ten miles of trails in this area.
Monday's ceremony will be held at Orcutt Community Park at 3pm at the end of Bradley Road.
