To some it might feel flippant to bemoan the hiking trails that burned up in the Eaton and Palisades fires. After all, thousands of people have lost their homes, and as of Wednesday afternoon 28 people lost their lives. But I’m not one for binaries. Our public lands are our playground, our spiritual home, our teacher, our friend. Amid our collective trauma, we should mourn it all.
The Times has been hard at work putting together an accounting of the wreckage. Reporters are gathering details about the beloved parents, grandparents and neighbors who perished in the fires. My colleagues recently mapped out the areas in Altadena and Pacific Palisades where homes and businesses were destroyed in both fires. My job this past week was to determine what the outdoors community lost.
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I’ve spent the past few days zooming into maps, cursing one minute and thanking God the next as I studied the burn areas. In total, the two fires burned at least 54 trails. I know many of you will see your favorites on theselists. Me too. It’s not lost on me that many of the locations I’ve recommended to you since I started writing this newsletter in July may be covered in ash.
There have been some victories, though. Two days after the Eaton fire started, I watched on a live feed as the blaze approached the Mt. Wilson Observatory. Miraculously, firefighters saved it, telescopes, Cosmic Cafe and all. Once we can return to the Mt. Wilson Trail, which burned in the Eaton fire, we will still be greeted by a place that has advanced our understanding of the universe (and by some good sandwiches).
Other places that appear to be spared include the actual falls and the area around them at Millard Canyon. Though the first half-mile of the path that leads you there seems to have burned. I often go to Millard Creek for a quick escape into the woods, and was also relieved that much of the trail leading to Dawn Mine doesn’t appear to have burned either, according to my analysis. To create the list of burned trails, I used mapping software CalTopo and cross-referenced the burn areas with maps of local trails. (The fire also didn’t reach Switzer Falls, a fact I recently shared with a very relieved friend who thought the Eaton fire had burned much farther into Angeles National Forest than it did.)
When I started researching the area where the Palisades fire burned, I was nervous about the fate of the Backbone Trail, a route I’d planned to spend more time along this year. The first seven miles, starting at the Will Rogers trailhead, appear to have burned. The next 8.7-mile segment northwest of Temescal Peak running west past Eagle Rock and Musch Trail Camp appears not to have burned. Then, near Saddle Peak, the trail runs along and near the western flank of the fire, with patches of it running through the fire’s path. Westward from near Piuma Road, the trail is not burned.
In total, at least 48 miles of the 67-mile route were untouched by the Palisades fire. That’s a lot of wildlands left to explore once the Santa Monica Mountains reopen. The Palisades fire also didn’t reach Malibu Creek State Park.
Even though we know certain areas burned, we do not know how badly they were damaged. A few details have started to trickle in. Eaton Canyon falls continue to flow, while Inspiration Point northeast of Echo Mountain was reportedly destroyed. In the Santa Monica Mountains, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority has reported that its firefighters saved infrastructure at its San Vicente Mountain Park during the Palisades fire and at Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve during the Kenneth fire. And although trails burned in the area, the agency’s fire crew protected most of the structures at Temescal Gateway Park from destruction. Not all has been lost.
It will take time — probably a frustratingly long amount for those of us champing at the bit to get outside — for our favorite places burned by these fires to recover. But they will recover. Please take care of yourself and your neighbors in the coming weeks so that you can too.
The full lists of the trails that burned in both the Eaton and Palisades fires are here and here.
Given the burned areas and continued air quality concerns, you might be wondering: Where can one go? It’s a challenge right now. The National Weather Service extended its red flag warning on Tuesday until this evening, meaning there remains an increased risk of fire. Much of L.A.’s public lands remain closed as a result of that and the current fires.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Angeles National Forest is closed through Friday. Twelve L.A. County parks are closed because of the fires, including Eaton Canyon, Loma Alta Park and the L.A. County Arboretum & Botanic Garden.
Several parks and public lands remain closed within the Santa Monica Mountains. Topanga State Park and Will Rogers State Historic Park, which were both damaged in the fire, remain closed to the public. Several L.A. parks are closed, including Griffith Park, through today. And nine city parks, including Runyon Canyon, are closed until further notice.
All parks and trails in the Santa Monica Mountains, and in fire evacuation zones managed by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, are closed until officials determine it safe to reenter. That includes Temescal Gateway Park, Fryman Canyon Park and the Betty Dearing Trail, Franklin Canyon Park and Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve. Additionally, per the National Park Service, Paramount Ranch and Solstice Canyon are closed.
If you do get the opportunity to recreate in an open space, please remember to check air quality and the weather before heading out.
3 things to do
1. Hike with the Sierra Club in Newhall
The Sierra Club Angeles Chapter will host a hike from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday in Placerita Canyon. A naturalist will lead participants for a 3.6-mile hike along the Canyon Trail. Local experts will discuss the importance of the area’s designation as part of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, including how participants can get involved in advocating for more recreational opportunities in the area. Afterward, participants can join the experts for a short drive to the Sand Canyon area for a short naturalist walk. The event will end with a picnic with food provided. Guests should bring a picnic blanket, hiking shoes, water and sun protection. Register at sierraclub.org.
2. Bike to trail clean-up in Angeles National Forest
The Mt. Wilson Bicycling Association will host a bike-in trail cleanup from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday on the Valley Forge Trail. Volunteers will park at Redbox Picnic Area and are responsible for getting themselves to Valley Forge Trail Camp by bike. The group will meet at 8 a.m. for a safety briefing before riding to the trail. The organization will provide lunch to volunteers. Participants should bring water and snacks and wear long sleeves and pants to protect themselves from poodle-dog bush and other irritants in the area. Register at eventbrite.com.
3. Protect land and trails in L.A.
The Ascot Hills Park Green Team will host a work party from 8 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the park (4371 Multnomah St.). Volunteers will plant coastal sage scrub and block shortcuts that veer off trails and harm park habitat. The group will meet at the nursery at the western end of the gravel parking lot. Volunteers younger than 18 will need a signed waiver from a parent or guardian. Learn more at the group’s Instagram page.
The must-read
A group of UCLA climate researchers found that human-caused climate change likely contributed one-fourth to drying out the shrubs and grasses that fed the explosive wildfires across L.A. this month. Times staff writer Ian James reported that the scientists found without the higher temperatures that climate change is bringing, the fires still would have been extreme, but they would have been “somewhat smaller and less intense.” “The clearest way climate change is affecting fire in the western United States and California is through the direct influence that warmer atmospheric temperatures have,” said Park Williams, a climate scientist who prepared the analysis with colleagues. “A warmer atmosphere is a thirstier atmosphere, and so all else equal, fuels will dry out more quickly in a warmer world.”
Happy adventuring,
P.S.
Months ago, I booked a camping trip to Death Valley National Park, and in light of everything happening, it’s doing wonders to my mental health to have something to look forward to. I’d recommend you consider the same by planning your summer camping trips, including for Memorial Day weekend. Dates to camp in Sentinel Campground in Kings Canyon National Park starting May 9 opened recently and will be released on a rolling basis. Yosemite National Park has 13 popular campgrounds that operate on a reservation system from April through October. Of those, Upper Pines, Lower Pines, North Pines, Wawona and Hodgdon Meadow campground reservations are released five months in advance on the 15th of each month. So, if you’d like to camp there in June and early July (including the Fourth of July) I’d advise that you and your friends or family members get up early, boot up those laptops and be ready to grab a spot when those dates open at 7 a.m. Feb. 15. This is the type of joyous adventure we all need right now.
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