New this year! The organizers request you register online at their website: https://smmtc.org/machform/view.php?id=11102&element_4_4=California by April 23, please.

Complete info from the organizers: https://www.smmtc.org/maint/traildays.php

For the 37th year running, we have an opportunity to work at rebuilding the trails and then BBQ and camp at Danielson Ranch in Sycamore Canyon. It is opened annually for the Santa Monica Mountains Trail Days! This is a unique opportunity to work on the trails that we enjoy so much in Sycamore Canyon, and the event is followed by a BBQ dinner and prizes (see photo), with free camping on Friday and/or Saturday night. This is hands down the best day to get in some trail maintenance work! Camping is optional; you may leave with the escort after the BBQ.

Schedule at a glance

Friday night April 27 – arrive for overnight camping (optional). Bagels and hot beverages supplied Saturday morning for campers.

Saturday April 28 – Trailwork, barbecue dinner, prize give-away. Bring your own lunch. Optional overnight camping. Bagels and hot beverages supplied Sunday morning for campers.

Sunday April 29 – Trailwork, prize give-away. Bring your own lunch.

You can volunteer to help out on Saturday, Sunday, or both.

BRING: LUNCHES, BEVERAGES, SNACKS AND WATER. Tools and instruction on using them are provided.
WEAR: Gloves, hat, long pants, protective clothing, and work boots or sturdy shoes.
REGISTRATION: Advance registration is required for the activities shown below, and appreciated by April 18th!
TRAILWORK: Saturday and/or Sunday. Help with trail restoratin on one or both days!
CAMPING: Free camping Friday and/or Saturday nights for volunteers at the Danielson Multi-use Area located under the sycamores and oaks in the heart of Point Mugu State Park. Bring your own gear.
DINNER: Sat. Night Barbecue Free FOR VOLUNTEERS. Bring appetizers and beverages.
PRIZES: Thank-you prize give-aways will be held Saturday after dinner and Sunday after trailwork.
VEHICLE ACCESS: You will be able to caravan into and out of the park by vehicle only at these few designated times:

ARRIVE

Friday – 5 pm and 7 pm
Saturday – 7:30 am and 4:30 pm
Sunday – 7:30 am

DEPART

Saturday – 4 pm and 9 pm
Sunday – 8 am and 2:30 pm

DIRECTIONS: Take the 101 Freeway to Wendy in Newbury Park; drive south to Potrero Road, turn right; at Reino bear left to NPS service road (first driveway). Cars will be escorted into and out of the park only at designated times shown above. DON’T BE LATE or you won’t be able to drive in.

MAP: http://bit.ly/1jvTBZP

Working on the Backbone Trail in November 2013.

On Saturday April 14th, CORBA and the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council will be working together to restore the Backbone Trail from Latigo Canyon Road. It’s been several years since we worked in this area so we’ll be doing general work on the tread and cutting back overgrowing brush.

Nineteen volunteers from CORBA and the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council met where the Backbone Trail crosses Kanan Road, just north of Tunnel #1, to spend the next few hours restoring the trail towards Latigo Canyon Road. The trail was last worked in April 2016 and since then most of the drains had become clogged with silt and the brush was narrowing the usable part of the trail.

The trail had been flagged the previous day to mark 60 drains that needed to be unclogged or newly built. The flagging went 1.4 miles from the trailhead.

Locations of the 60 new/cleared drains are shown as red X’s along the trail. The parking lot on Kanan is the green star on the left.

We had an inch or so of rain a few days before so the dirt was quite soft. This made the progress go much more quickly than it usually does. It’s so much easier to dig out damp soil than the usual packed dry clay that has the consistency of hardened concrete.

Building a new drain

Most of the volunteers worked on the drains but a small group cut back the overgrowing brush. A crew leader used a hedge trimmer while the others gathered the clippings and hid them off the trail.

Because of the enthusiasm of the volunteers and the soft soil, we worked all 60 drains and got back to the car over a half hour earlier than expected. Of the 60 over 0.9 miles starting above the Kanan tunnel, 16 were new. With only one hedge trimmer, that work went more slowly so there is more work to be done there.

Enjoying lunch on CORBA at the Urbane Cafe and Hamburger Habit.

After the event, CORBA treated the volunteers to lunch at the Urbane Cafe and adjacent Hamburger Habit to thank them for their contribution to everyone’s enjoyment of the trails. Thanks, job well done!

You can see other photos from this event at the photo gallery.

Clearing brush on the BBT east of Kanan Rd in April 2016

On Saturday Jan 13, CORBA and the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council will be working together to restore the Backbone Trail from Kanan Road east towards Newton Motorway. We worked here in the spring of 2016, less than two years ago, installing drains and cutting back brush. Now many of the drains are clogged with silt and of course the brush needs cutting back to clear the trail.

We will be meeting at the paved parking lot immediately north of Tunnel #1 (closest to the ocean) on Kanan Rd at 8:30 am on Saturday January 13th. As a thank-you, CORBA will be taking volunteers to lunch afterwards. Trailwork days normally run to about 2:00 pm, so bring a snack to tide you over!

Registering online at our Meetup event will help us plan for this event so we’ll know how many tools to bring and have a better idea of how much we’ll be able to accomplish. Thanks for registering in advance!

This is a popular trail so we hope to see a lot of our mountain biking friends there to help out!

No experience is necessary to help out with trailwork. Tools and instructions on how to use them safely and effectively will be provided. Children under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and be must over 7-years old to attend, and children under 14 must be constantly and directly supervised by their parent or guardian who brought them.

Please leave your 4-legged children at home!

And you don’t need to be a mountain biker to help out – Everybody is welcome! For more information on trailwork in general, visit our trail crew web page (http://corbamtb.com/programs/trail-crew.shtml).

Be sure to wear protective clothing (sturdy shoes, long pants and sleeves, hat, gloves) and bring snacks, sunscreen and water. CORBA will provide the tools and training. Everybody works at their own pace.