The local state park for motorcyclists and other off-road enthusiasts is set to triple in size. Whether that will mean more trails for the ever-increasing legions of off-road riders has yet to be seen.

The Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area — 1,540 acres set in Corral Hollow Canyon between Tracy and Livermore — bought 3,000 more acres on its western side about 10 years ago. Since then, the California Department of Parks and Recreation has kept the land behind locked gates while it decides how the parcel should be used.

Joe Ramos, sector superintendent for the state’s Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division, said that the state has not set a schedule for when the new section will open, nor is there any plan for who gets to use it.

But the pressure to add motorcycle trails was strong when the state bought the land, and it remains still strong today.

“There’s a trend, unfortunately, where more and more off-highway-use areas throughout the state are starting to close down, and that’s concentrating more and more users into a very finite area among off-highway parks,” Ramos said. “So we really have to manage to the highest degree and explore other riding areas.”

He added that the state recognized this back in the 1990s when it jumped on an opportunity to buy the land just to the west of the park. At the time, some folks thought expansion of the off-road vehicle park would soon follow the purchase.

However, since then the pressure from environmentalists to preserve the land has become as strong as pressure to open new trails.

Battle over best use

When the state acquired the park’s original 1,540 acres in 1980, it had already been in use as a private off-road park. The additional land is subject to state environmental reviews, and this case demonstrates how state environmental laws can turn a land-use discussion into an ongoing political battle.

Skip Horne runs the motorcycle hill-climb events at Carnegie, and he followed the reviews right after the state announced that it would expand the park. He ended up feeling like the motorcycle-riding community’s voice was drowned out by environmentalists who wanted to keep motor vehicles out of the new section.

“It’s been an issue for a long time. I’ve been to meetings with the state over and over. We railed and railed on them to get it open,” Horne said, adding that at the time the park was so crowded with motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles that the trails were unsafe.

“This thing is needed so badly it blows your mind that the state won’t open it up,” he said, adding that the same type of controversy stalled an expansion of Hollister’s off-road park for 10 years. Eventually, that park opened new trails for motorcycles and off-road vehicles.

Mark Connolly, whose family’s 6,000-acre ranch to the south borders the existing park and the new acquisition, said that concerns about wildlife have been enough to torpedo two environmental studies. In particular, he said the state has an obligation to protect the breeding grounds of the California tiger salamander, a threatened species that lives in ponds in those hills.

“They have a huge problem opening that up to off-highway vehicle use,” Connolly said. “Our position is, it needs to be a passive-use park.”

He added that off-road vehicles cause erosion at the park, and new trails will only make that worse.

“They shouldn’t even consider opening more OHV at Carnegie until they have the current problems under control.”

The park can draw between 100,000 to 130,000 riders in a year — up to 1,200 to 1,500 riders in the peak season from mid-fall through mid-spring. That’s nearly five times as many off-road riders who use the park today compared to 1980.

Ramos also acknowledged that horseback riders, hikers, environmentalists and history buffs will influence the state’s decision on how to use that land.

“We’re not to the specific level of looking at any particular type of other activity. We’re just looking at land management issues and getting that property open,” he said, adding that it makes sense for the state to take its time.

“Prior to opening up the gates, we want to make sure that every land-management issue is addressed.”

Past affects present

Regardless of land use, Ramos said that the history of the towns in Corral Hollow Canyon in the late 19th century and early 20th century will influence the park’s expansion.

“We have resource staff. We now we have an interpreter who’s dedicated to the history, and she’s making amazing discoveries and getting more information out,” he said. “People are surprised. They think it’s just the trails, but there is the natural and historical preservation.”

The park bears the name of the Carnegie Brick and Pottery Co., which was active in the first decade of the 20th century within the existing park boundaries. The land acquired in the late 1990s includes remnants of the coal mines that preceded the brick factory.

One of the main canyons on the new property is dotted by huge piles of tailings from the coal mines, which were bored deep into the hills in the late 1800s. The concrete foundation for a cable tram sits a few hundred yards from the opening of a mine shaft, which the state recently closed because it became popular with unauthorized visitors.

Supervising state park peace officer Gary Hughey pointed out where homes and mine-related buildings once stood, as well as the likely route used as a wagon trail over the hills and into Livermore.

For now, access to that land is restricted, with the exception of a neighboring cattle rancher, some local historians researching the old towns and those who can otherwise arrange tours or secure permission to travel in the area.

• Contact Bob Brownne at 830-4227 or brownne@tracypress.com.