CARLSBAD — The first Saturday of every June is recognized as National Trails Day, and for the second year in a row, the city of Carlsbad took the opportunity to show off one of its trails while recognizing the day.

About 75 hikers and mountain bikers gathered June 7 at the Lake Calavera trailhead on the corner of College Avenue and Carlsbad Village Drive to explore the future trail and receive information on how to stay safe while on citywide trails.

“We allow people, for special events, to use the future trails,” said Liz Ketabian, trails manager and park planner for the city of Carlsbad. “However, it isn’t officially open yet. We are working on a master plan to get trails in the area, but it is not official yet.”

The city also sponsored a series of talks to help create awareness of the potential risks and dangers to hikers and bikers while on trails, such as rattlesnakes, and to discuss potential emergency plans.

Eric Trogden discussed bike safety, Kevin Skei spoke to hikers and David Harrison talked about general emergency preparedness. Harrison said many wildfires are started by “trail activity,” such as smoking.

“People shouldn’t smoke on the trails anyway, but now we have a real specific ordinance to enforce,” Ketabian said of a new city ordinance recently passed which bans smoking on beaches and parks in Carlsbad.

The designated trails within the city are found in the developments of Rancho Carrillo, Bressi Ranch, Villagio, and Aviara around the Batiquitos Lagoon. The newest trail is found near the new city golf course, The Crossings. Smaller trails can be found at Hosp Grove, Arroyo Vista and near La Costa Glen retirement village and La Costa Valley. The city also has completed less than a mile of a larger countywide Coastal Rail Trail.

Ketabian said the city is working on linking the unpaved trails together as more and more become available.

There is a “conceptual alignment” plan in place, Ketabian said. “Not only to link trails within an area, but to the other similar trails within the city and to other cities, as well.”

Some of the trails in Rancho Carrillo and Villages of La Costa link to a citywide trail system in San Marcos and Encinitas.

All the unpaved natural biking and hiking trails created by the city will eventually link together. At this time, the longest unpaved trail, at the Batiquitos Lagoon, is six miles.

Many of the most popular trails are the longer, “future trails,” found in the more remote areas within the city, but Ketabian said hikers and bikers are in an “at your own risk” situation, as they are not yet approved city-designated trails, but are trails marked as future trails.

One exception are the popular mountain biking trails near the Villages of La Costa in the southeastern part of the city. Ketabian said they are approved by the city but run by the Center for Natural Lands Management.

Maps of trails within the city can be found at the city’s two libraries, city parks, and the visitor’s center.

“We also have a good trail volunteer program, they walk once a month to look for trash, and work hand in hand with the parks department,” Ketabian added.