Category Archives: National Forests

Conservation, National Forests

San Dimas Experimental Forest – Closed to the Public, and Here’s Why That’s Actually Okay

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Not every closure is a bad thing. I know – coming from me, that probably sounds surprising. But hear me out.

The San Dimas Experimental Forest, tucked into the hills north of Glendora in the Angeles National Forest, has been closed to public recreation since March 23, 2026 – and unlike some closures I could name, this one makes sense to me.

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Activities, Hikes, National Forests, Outdoors, U.S. Forest Service

Mount Baldy Trail Closures Extended — What Hikers Need To Know

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Forest managers restrict summit approaches after heavy snow and rescue operations — check official alerts before heading into the San Gabriels.

Mount Baldy is close enough to the city that people treat it like a day hike, which is why the latest extended closure matters. When winter turns the ridgelines to ice, the mountain stops being a fairly strenuous stroll and becomes a treacherous mountaineering adventure that can kill the underprepared and the overconfident.

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California, National Forests, Outdoors, Recreation & Responsible Use, U.S. Forest Service

Tahoe Trails: E-Bikes, New Connectors, and Upgraded Trailheads

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Forest Service signs off on new e-bike branches, restroom-equipped parking and wayfinding. Construction slated for June 2026.

Lake Tahoe is about to change the way people get around on two electric-powered wheels. In early January 2026, the U.S. Forest Service finalized a basin-wide plan that expands where e-bikes can go and ties loose ends in the trail network across the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. The agency incorporated community input into route selection and environmental analysis, resulting in a mapped program with new access and infrastructure.

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Cal Fire, California, National Forests, State Parks, U.S. Forest Service

Fire Lookouts: the Overlooked Wildfire First Responders

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Volunteers and towers still catch small ignitions early — a human, practical layer that many agencies have let lapse.

Human observers remain a reliable detection option when cell service is spotty, and cellphone networks are disabled by power shutoffs. Many rural ridgelines and backcountry roads have little or no cellular coverage, and utilities’ preemptive outages can render personal devices useless exactly when they’re most needed.
 
Fire lookout towers once formed a dense statewide watch. At their peak, there were thousands of towers nationwide – and, roughly, 600 in California alone, situated to give broad, unobstructed views across forests and foothills. That system thinned over decades as budget cuts reduced staff and closed sites.
Day Hikes, Hikes, National Forests, Wildfire

Eaton Fire Closes Beloved Angeles National Forest Trails – And It Didn’t Have to Be This Way

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

I’ve hiked the Sam Merrill Trail more times than I can count. Echo Mountain. Mount Lowe. The old incline railway grade that reminds you California used to dream bigger than it does now. These aren’t just trails to me – they’re places I’ve carried memories into and brought new ones out of every single time.

They’re closed. All of them. The Eaton Fire saw to that.

Effective January 7, 2026, the Angeles National Forest has closed a significant chunk of the front range above Altadena through December 31, 2027. The closure covers roads and trails that generations of Southern Californians have been walking, riding, and exploring for over a hundred years.

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