In specifying criteria and standards for the design and construction of trail routes and complementary facilities as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 5071.3, the director shall include the following:

(a) The following routes shall be given priority in the allocation of funds:

(1) Routes which are in proximity or accessible to major urban areas of the state.

(2) Routes which are located on lands in public ownership.

(3) Routes which provide linkage or access to natural, scenic, historic, or recreational areas of clear statewide significance.

(4) Routes which are, or may be, the subject of agreements providing for participation of other public agencies, cooperating volunteer trail associations, or any combination of those entities, in state trail acquisition, development, or maintenance.

(b) Where feasible, trail uses may be combined on routes within the system; however, where trail use by motor vehicles is incompatible with other trail uses, separate areas and facilities should be provided.

(c) Trails should be located and managed so as to restrict trail users to established routes and to aid in effective law enforcement.

(d) Trails should be located so as to avoid severance of private property and to minimize impact on adjacent landowners and operations. The location of any trail authorized by this article shall, if the property owner so requests, be placed as nearly as physically practicable to the boundary lines of the property traversed by the trail, as such boundary lines existed as of January 1, 1975.

(e) Insofar as possible, trails should be designed and maintained to harmonize with, and complement, established forest, agricultural, and resource management plans. No trail, or property acquisition therefor, shall interfere with a landowner’s water rights or his right to access to the place of exercise of such water rights.

(f) Trails should be planned as a system and each trail segment should be part of the overall system plan.

(g) Trails should be appropriately signed to provide identification, direction, and information.

(h) Rest areas, shelters, sanitary facilities, or other conveniences should be designed and located to meet the needs of trail users, including physically handicapped persons, and to prevent intrusion into surrounding areas.

(i) The department shall erect fences along any trail when requested to do so by the owner of adjacent land, or with the consent of the owner of such land when the department determines it will be in the best interests of the users of the trail and adjoining property owners, and shall place gates in such fences when necessary to afford proper access and at each point of intersection with existing roads, trails, or at used points of access to or across such trail. The department shall maintain such fences and gates in good condition.

(j) A landowner’s right to conduct agricultural, timber harvesting, or mining activities on private lands adjacent to, or in the vicinity of, a trail shall not be restricted because of the presence of the trail.

(Amended by Stats. 1982, Ch. 903, Sec. 3. Effective September 13, 1982.)