"Bob Jones Trail will be closed starting Monday, October 5, through early January for a restoration project." That's the opening line of an October 5 report from KSBY, and it doesn't say which Bob Jones path it means.
San Luis Obispo has two. The City of San Luis Obispo maintains the Bob Jones Bike Trail, which runs through town along San Luis Creek. San Luis Obispo County runs the Bob Jones Trail, which starts at the Ontario Road staging area and heads toward Avila Beach. This fall the two are shut for opposite reasons. The city path is closed for upkeep. The county route is losing its parking lot for a while because the county is building it closer to town. Once you know which agency owns which path, the closure news gets much easier to read, and you can tell whether your own route is affected.
The in-town path is the one closed until January
The City's own notice is narrower than the headline. According to the City of San Luis Obispo's Ranger Service projects page, the Bob Jones Bike Trail "between Prado Road and LOVR will be closed for approximately 3-months," starting as early as Monday, October 5, 2026. The City estimates it will reopen in early January 2027.
The work is maintenance. The City lists fence repairs, gate installation, new signage, clearing along the creek embankment, vegetation management and tree trimming along the trail and the San Luis Creek corridor. KSBY described the project as habitat restoration, safety improvements and more enforcement. Both descriptions point to the same corridor.
The City's notice doesn't give daily hours or say whether the path opens after work ends each day. Count on the Prado Road to Los Osos Valley Road stretch being unavailable until the City says otherwise. On the City's project page, the trail's heading still shows the green "Complete/Open" symbol, right above the text announcing the three-month closure. The closure text is the part to go by.
Today is October 13, so the closure is a little more than a week old, with roughly twelve weeks to go.
The county route is closed for a different reason
KSBY's headline and the City's notice both describe the in-town path. The county's coastal route has its own disruption, and the cause is the long-planned link between town and the coastal trail.
On September 1, 2026, County Public Works started construction on Segment 1 of the Bob Jones Pathway Gap Closure Project. The segment is a multi-use path for bikes and pedestrians between the Octagon Barn and Cloverridge Lane. The contractor put up construction signs on Higuera Street between those two points the day before. Souza Construction of San Luis Obispo holds the $10.5 million contract. The money comes from a federal Active Transportation Program grant provided by the California Transportation Commission, and the County expects construction to take up to 18 months. If the work uses that whole window, Segment 1 would finish around March 2028.
Here's where the two projects meet. The County Parks alerts and current conditions page, updated as of September 24, says the Ontario Road trailhead parking lot will close starting Monday, October 19, 2026, for an expected four to six weeks of construction. KSBY's report ties the lot closure to Segment 1. If the schedule holds, the lot reopens somewhere between mid-November and the end of November. The County Parks page doesn't list any closure of the trail itself, only the lot. Check that page before you go, since conditions can change after the last update.
How the two disruptions overlap
In order, the fall looks like this:
- August 31, 2026. Construction signs go up on Higuera Street between the Octagon Barn and Cloverridge Lane.
- September 1, 2026. Segment 1 construction begins.
- October 5, 2026. The City's Bob Jones Bike Trail closes between Prado Road and LOVR.
- October 19, 2026. The Ontario Road trailhead lot closes for four to six weeks.
- Mid to late November 2026. The Ontario Road lot is expected to reopen, based on the County's four-to-six-week estimate.
- Early January 2027. The City's estimated reopening for the Prado to LOVR section.
From October 19 until the Ontario Road lot reopens, both Bob Jones paths are affected at once. The in-town section is closed, and the county route's main parking access is gone. After the lot reopens, only the City closure remains, and it runs through the holidays.
What Segment 1 does and doesn't connect
The construction underway this fall covers only part of the distance between town and the coastal trail.
The Tribune and KEYT both put the full connection from the Octagon Barn to the Ontario Road staging area at about 4.5 miles. An older County Parks project page, dating to 2015, lists it as about 4.4 miles. Segment 1 covers only the north end of that, from the barn to Cloverridge Lane. The County calls Segment 2, from there to the Ontario Road trailhead, a "future segment." The Tribune reported that the Board of Supervisors approved the Segment 1 contract on July 7, and that Segment 2 will need its own separate contract in the coming years. No completion date has been published for the full SLO-to-Avila connection, and anyone who gives you one is guessing.
KCBX's September coverage also describes the existing coastal trail as starting at Ontario Road, with the link to town still to come. Advocates have been pushing for this connection for a long time. KEYT's July report names Friends of the Bob Jones Trail among the groups behind the project.
So the closures that slow things down this fall come from two separate kinds of work. The City is maintaining the path that already exists in town. The County is building the first of two pieces needed to reach the coast. Each takes a few months of your usual route.
Where the City's rangers have been building instead
The same City Ranger Service crew that closed the in-town path has spent the past year opening other routes. Three of them are good substitutes through December.
Backburn Trail, Reservoir Canyon Natural Reserve. This one is still under construction but open to the public. The City reports 2.6 of its planned 3.2 miles are finished. It's meant to be a gentler way to the summit than the steep Firefighter Trail, and it already offers several loop options. The trailhead is at the end of Lizzie Street, across from French Hospital. Rangers hold volunteer build days on Wednesday mornings, with sign-ups through volunteer.slocity.org.
Stenner Flow, Stenner Springs Natural Reserve. Rangers and volunteers rebuilt the lower section of this directional mountain bike trail, its first major overhaul since it was built by hand in 2014. The City says the work fixed drainage problems and added bike-specific features. It was finished in June and is open to bikes only. Hikers reach the reserve by Elevator Trail.
Laguna Lake Bike Park, Laguna Lake Park. Phase 2 is finished, with two full jump lines and a mulch jump, eleven jumps in all. A new beginner jump line for younger riders is being built, alongside the existing beginner mountain bike loop and kids' pump track.
None of these replaces a flat creekside ride. Backburn is a summit trail, and Stenner Flow and the bike park are built for mountain bikes. For a family that used the Prado to LOVR stretch for weekend pedaling, the Laguna Lake loop and pump track are the closest match for little legs.
The City's trail status page says its map shows current closures across City open space. Check it before heading out, since conditions on individual trails change faster than any project page gets updated.
The Octagon Barn has a fall date of its own
The Octagon Barn on South Higuera is the north end of Segment 1, and this season it's both a construction landmark and an event venue. The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County hosts its Holiday Market and Barn Lighting there on December 3, 2026. The market runs 4 to 8 p.m. and the lighting ceremony is at 7 p.m. The listing promises California-made goods, food trucks, hot cocoa, live music and family activities.
If you plan to stop by before then, the barn's visit page says docent-led history tours can be booked April through October, so the 2026 tour season is nearly over. Visitors can still read the property's history signage, but the page asks people to come back another time if the gates are closed or a private-event sign is posted. With Segment 1 construction signs posted along Higuera nearby, follow the posted construction signs and give yourself extra time on December 3.
We keep track of projects like this one for the owners and tenants we work with across San Luis Obispo County. If you're wondering how the Bob Jones gap closure might affect a property you own along the South Higuera corridor or near the Avila end, The Franklin Team can talk it through with you, from what's being built to what it means when you're ready to sell. Request a Home Valuation whenever you'd like a local read on your home.
