This past week has been devastating. Our hearts go out to all those who were impacted by the Woolsey Fire and the Hill Fire, which have ravaged our local mountains. We know that a good portion of CORBA’s membership are in areas affected by the fire. A few lost homes and property. CORBA’s storage shed near Malibu Creek State Park survived, though we weren’t able to confirm so until after Thanksgiving. We truly appreciate the firefighters and first responders who put themselves at incredible risk to battle these fires and save as much as they could.

With so much loss, it may sound a little selfish to be concerned about trails. Being able to go for a mountain bike ride can brighten your day and bring a sense of normalcy to these tumultuous times. But with most of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area closed, where can we ride? We’ve provided a listing below, with links to each park’s web site for the latest updates. We’ll do our best to keep this information current.

Please respect trail and park closures. Our land management agencies have their hands full with fire recovery and damage assessments. Trails in burned areas can be extremely hazardous, even after the fire is “out.”  Fine particulate ash is a lung irritant and can cause severe health problems. Burned, weakened trees can fall at any time, especially in the early days after the fire, or as the ground softens with rain and no vegetation. Once our first big rains hit, trails will be heavily damaged and may become impassable. Just don’t ride closed trails.

As soon as we are able, CORBA will be scheduling trailwork events to help restore trails that will be heavily damaged this coming winter. It might be some time before we can do trailwork or ride. Watch our meetup group or Facebook page for upcoming trailwork events in the new year.

OPEN Areas (Updated Dec 21, 2018):

• All of Thousand Oaks (COSCA) open space areas except
  • The Hill Canyon bridge in Conejo Canyons/Western Plateau
  • Hawk Canyon in Conejo Canyons/Western Plateau
  • Oakbrook Regional Park and Chumash Museum.
• Rancho Sierra Vista
• Cheeseboro
• Palo Comado Canyon
• Rocky Peak Mountain Park
• Mountain biking trails in Point Mugu State Park (Sycamore Canyon)
• Topanga State Park
• Malibu Creek State Park (12/21)
• Will Rogers State Park

CLOSED Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (Facebook Page, Twitter) 

• Cameron Nature Preserve at Puerco Canyon
• Charmlee Wilderness Park
• Corral Canyon Park – Sara Wan Trailhead
• Escondido Canyon Park
• Fran Pavley Meadow
• Las Virgenes View Trail
• Lechuza Beach
• Liberty Canyon Trailhead
• Triunfo Creek Park
• Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (formerly Ahmanson Ranch)
• Zev Yaroslavsky Las Virgenes Highlands Park

CLOSED California State Parks (Facebook, Twitter):

• Malibu Creek State Park – closed until further notice due to the Woolsey Fire. State Parks lost some structures, such as employee residences, the historic Sepulveda Adobe, Red House, Hope Ranch also known as the White Oak Barn (including historic Adamson rowboats) and Reagan Ranch. – Update 12/21: Malibu Creek State Park is now open. Campgrounds are closed, but trails are open. Please stay on the trails!

 

CLOSED Conejo Open Space Areas:

• The Hill Canyon bridge in Conejo Canyons/Western Plateau
• Hawk Canyon in Conejo Canyons/Western Plateau
• Oakbrook Regional Park and Chumash Museum.

CLOSED Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (Facebook, Twitter):

• All Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Areas managed by the National Park Service are closed, except as noted above for Open Areas.

CLOSED Roads:

• LA County road closures
• Ventura County road closures

Last updated: Nov 26, 2018.

Tags: closures

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 27th, 2018 at 9:06 am and is filed under California State Parks, Conejo Valley, Santa Monica Mountains, Simi Valley, Trail Access, Trail Hazards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.