Bustillos

Luis Michael Bustillos appeals a judgment denying him a prescriptive easement to a network of trails on property owned by Michael Kevin Murphy. Bustillos contends the court erred in granting summary judgment on the basis that (1) Civil Code section 1009 bars his claim for an easement for recreational purposes, (2) a prescriptive easement will not be granted for traveling over the land of another in many directions and courses, and (3) Bustillos’s claim essentially amounted to a claim of an estate in the property that would effectively deny Murphy the use of his property. We affirm.

Facts

Murphy’s property is undeveloped and adjacent to a residential development. Since 1973 Bustillos, as well as other people, have been using trails on the property for recreational uses such as riding motorcycles, walking, riding horses, and walking dogs. Bustillos has repaired a number of trails and he has never seen anyone else repair the trails. As a result of the use by Bustillos and others, there is a network of trails traveling across most of the property and these trails are clearly visible in aerial photographs. Bustillos sought a prescriptive easement to use all the trails on the…