The Valley Center Trails Association is dedicated to connecting the community by advocating for the development of multi-use trails and footpaths and promoting their use.

Our Goals:

• Establish a series of safe non-motorized pathways and multi-use trails throughout Valley Center.

• Preserve open spaces for future generations to enjoy.

• Link trails and pathways to adjacent communities.

• Encourage private developers to include public trails / pathways within their developments linked to proposed and existing pathways and trails. These trails / pathways must allow access for everyone.

• Improve our environment and reduce air pollution by reducing motorized travel within Valley Center.
Click to learn more about VCTA

You can be part of the effort to create more parks, open space, and trails in Valley Center. The work of dedicated volunteers has resulted in the Heritage Trail, along Valley Center Road, major land acquisitions adjacent to Hellhole Canyon Preserve, the preservation of the Stone House in Keys Creek, public access to Rancho Lilac Preserve and the Counties resent purchase of Butterfield Trails Ranch.

Great Video by KUSI News
of Hannah (President of VCTrails) & Levi her son
at the Westerns Day Parade
talking about
Valley Center Trails and our Small Town.

Your input matters. By sharing your ideas, you’ll help shape parks that serve the Valley Center community.

The County is asking for public input, you do not need to be a resident of Valley Center to complete the survey. This is a a new survey on our local parks.

This is different from the one you may have completed before, and we ask you to please complete it and forward it on to your friends and neighbors.

Valley Center has two parks that are in the planning stages with the County; both are addressed on this new survey.

Star Valley Park: This is the home of the VC Stampede Rodeo & the VC Vaqueros. This land was purchased to support the Valley Centers Equestrian Community, our Western Heritage & County Lifestyle.

Butterfield Trails Ranch: The Community support is for a natural park. Open space for everyone to enjoy, rather than a sports-based park. 

Valley Center Community Needs
Assessment Survey

(from Butterfield Trails Ranch & Star Valley Park Engage page link below)

San Diego County is planning the future of Butterfield Trails Ranch and Star Valley Park as public parks. We are in an early project initiation phase, the first step before beginning our active outreach phase. This survey helps us understand your current awareness of these parks, how to reach you effectively, and who else the County should be connecting with as we prepare for community outreach.

To keep our results accurate, we ask that each person complete this survey only one time.

Department of Parks & Recreation
for In-Person or Online
Workshops on these two parks.

• Attend Community Workshop #1 in -person on Saturday, November 14, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., at the Valley Center Community Hall (Lower Meeting Room)

• Join Community Workshop #1 online on Thursday, December 3, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (register HERE(External link))

Our Wish List for 2026: 
YOU as a VCTrails Member!

JOIN OR RENEW TODAY!

Dear Members and Friends,

We invite you to support VC Trails! 

As our town grows, our group of dedicated volunteers works to make sure there are trails, open spaces, preserves, parks for everyone to enjoy. We do this year after year, and we need your support as members and participants to make our vision of connecting our community with a network of multi-use trails a reality.

Our accomplishments include: working to acquire Butterfield Trails County Park and promoting our vision to keep it natural; working to save public access to Rancho Lilac Preserve; working to acquire Keys Creek Preserve; the Heritage Trail along Valley Center Road and its upcoming extension along Cole Grade Road. All of these projects require attending County and Planning meetings, advocacy and rallying community support.

Along the way, we host the Western Days 5k, hikes and family friendly events with the goal of having fun together and building a stronger community in Valley Center. 

What does the future hold? More growth in Valley Center is a given, and if we are going to have more trails, we will need to stay active, work with developers and make sure public trails are included in developments and road widenings.

Let’s do it together! It all starts with membership, beginning at only $10. Please visit our webpage often for more information on our projects, activities and membership opportunities.

 Thank you,
VC Trails Team

Valley Center Trails Association is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the creation of non-motorized trails and pathways in Valley Center.

Membership in the Valley Center Trails Association is open to all individuals/households and businesses in the community. A modest membership fee is charged. Please support our efforts with your Membership or Donation. Thank you!