A 23-acre piece of land along the Lafayette ridge will avoid having homes built upon it after the Muir Heritage Trust purchased the land for $1.3 million this week.

The Muir Heritage Trust will only be paying 10 percent of the purchase price though. The cities of Lafayette and Walnut Creek and the East Bay Regional Park District will each be paying 30 percent of the price. The owner of the land becomes the land trust.

The four different entities involved wished to keep the land free of homes, in order to preserve the land and the wildlife in the area. There are plans to open the area to hikers, bikers and horse riders next year.