Cars overflowing into a parking lot reserved for horse trailers at the Point Reyes National Seashore’s Bear Valley Visitor Center irked equestrians on Sunday, when they noticed that a sign reading “No Auto Parking” had been replaced—without warning—by a sign that allowed overflow parking. By noon, cars had packed closely together with horse trailers, posing a safety risk to both cars and tired, easily agitated horses, according to local equestrians. “If the horse becomes anxious, it could back up into a car,” said Monte Kruger, president of the Marin Horse Association, who said horse trailers need at least a 10-foot berth to give the animals room to rest and un-tack after a ride. “It could damage the car, it could damage the horse.” Quick backlash from the equestrian community and emails to the national seashore’s superintendent prompted visitor center staff to return the original sign by Monday. Seashore spokesman John Golda could not say when the new sign was erected, or why the decision was made to install it. Increased parking has become a growing problem for the popular national seashore, which attracted over 2.5 million visitors in 2015, up nearly three percent from 2014. “We’re looking into what we can do to find some good solutions about parking cars and horses, and protecting everyone’s safety,” said Mr. Golda, who noted that heavy overflow parking for the Palomarin Trailhead in Bolinas also poses a significant traffic challenge. For now, equestrians accustomed to parking trailers unencumbered at the visitor center appear open to allowing overflow parking into the trailer lot, but in a controlled and clearly advertised way. “I can understand the need to let autos park there,” said Judy Teichman, a 40-year horse rider from Point Reyes Station. “But if they do that, they need to understand the challenges there, and it needs to be managed.”
Equestrians say nay to overflow parking
