Tunnel at Willow Avenue connecting the Clovis Old Town and Fresno Sugar Pine Trails.

Rail-Trail Project:
Fresno-Clovis Trail

Winner of the California State Trail Project Merit Award at the recent 17th California Trails Conference, this 13-mile route between Fresno and Clovis is also known to some as the Clovis Old Town and Fresno Sugarpine Trails. The reasons for the award are clear; the community support for the trail has been tremendous. In an unprecedented effort, the Coalition for Community Trails, the organization that championed this project and Tree Fresno, an organization dedicated to educating the public about tree selection, care and maintenance organized 3,000 community residents to plant 5,000 trees along the trail in a little less than three hours, becoming a Guinness World Record. The trail, which runs through Old Town Clovis, gained support of joggers, cyclists, businesses, chambers of commerce and multiple environmental organizations. The trail will also connect a variety of existing resources, including Yosemite International Airport, Woodward Park, the San Joaquin River Parkway and the 23-mile San Joaquin River Parkway Trail. The trail will be beautifully landscaped, including areas of shade and multiple rest stops.

The Coalition for Community Trails (CCT) is now working with the Cities of Fresno and Clovis, Fresno County, the Fresno Metropolitan Flood Control District (FMFCD), the Fresno Irrigation District (FID) and Tree Fresno to develop a multi-purpose Parkway Plan for the Fresno-Clovis Metropolitan Area. The plan consists of the approved bikeways in the cities of Clovis and Fresno and Fresno County, as well as possible FID irrigation canals that could accommodate trails.

The CCT is coordinating this effort with the FMFCD to encourage the development of parks as recharge basins (like the award-winning Oso D'Oro Park at Forkner and Barstow in Fresno) adjacent to these trails. The goal is to connect FMFCD recreational sites with a network of over 200 miles of urban trails and 100 adjacent park sites in the Fresno-Clovis Metropolitan Area.