Category Archives: California

Wildwood Canyon Named a State Park — Trails, Birds, Open Country

State Park and Recreation Commission formally classifies Wildwood Canyon State Park; the Yucaipa day-use area — open since 2003 — now moves into long-range planning with California State Parks.

Wildwood Canyon was formally classified and named Wildwood Canyon State Park by the State Park and Recreation Commission at its regular meeting on Dec. 17. The designation folds the Yucaipa day-use area — open to hikers, equestrians, and mountain bikers since 2003 — into California State Parks’ portfolio with new planning and stewardship responsibilities attached. The change won’t close trails or alter views from a ridge, but it does set the stage for long-range decisions on access, conservation, and historic resources within the state agency’s authority.
 

King of the Hammers: BLM Closures and Spectator Tips – What Johnson Valley Visitors Need to Know

King of the Hammers is back. The world’s most extreme off-road race and a week-long desert festival, KOH mixes high-speed desert runs with brutal rock crawling that chews up equipment and separates the finished from the wrecked.
 
The festival runs January 22 through February 7, 2026, with qualifying and tech the week before the main event and a calendar that builds up to the Race of Kings on Saturday, February 7. Expect qualifying and tech February 2–4 (Monday–Wednesday), the UTV Hammers Championship on February 5 (Thursday), the Every Man Challenge on February 6 (Friday), and the Race of Kings — the headline 4400 Unlimited Class showdown — on February 7. Multiple race classes run through the week, so there’s action to watch every day when you’re in Hammertown.

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MAPWaters Act: Digitizing Access to America’s Public Waters

The MAPWaters Act has cleared Congress and is headed to the President’s desk.

For people who boat, fish, hunt, or paddle on federally managed waters, this is a practical fix: the law directs agencies to digitize and publish recreational access information so users can find clear, up-to-date rules on phones and chartplotters, rather than digging through scattered paperwork.

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Head for the Dark Night Sky: Catch the Geminids Meteor Show in California

The sky over California puts on one of its best displays this weekend. From desert flats to high mountain vistas, the Geminid meteor shower peaks between December 13 and 14 — and under the right conditions, it’s the year’s most spectacular meteor show. Get away from town lights and clouds, and you’ll see fast, bright streaks and the occasional fireball that make a late night worth it.

The Geminids run roughly from December 1 to 21, with peak activity from December 13 to 14. Plan to be settled in by about 10 p.m.; the waning crescent moon doesn’t rise until roughly 2 a.m., which gives several moon-free hours when the faint stuff is visible. The stream is debris from asteroid 3200 Phaethon and, under dark skies, rates can hit 60–120 meteors per hour. NASA calls the Geminids one of the most powerful and spectacular annual showers. Continue reading

One Dollar, One Tree: BLM Cuts Permits to $1 for Trees and Firewood

Bureau of Land Management opens cutting areas and drops personal-use permits to $1 to deliver holiday savings and reduce hazardous fuels.

Across BLM public lands this winter, the Interior Department has turned a holiday chore into a practical win. The Bureau of Land Management’s “One Dollar, One Tree action makes gathering a Christmas tree or personal-use firewood inexpensive while directing work into overstocked stands that need thinning.

Effective immediately for the 2025–2026 winter season, the BLM has cut personal-use permits for Christmas trees and firewood to $1 per tree or per cord through January 31, 2026. The agency is opening new cutting areas in overstocked woodlands, with priority given to locations near communities, military bases, tribal areas, and rural counties. Household limits are raised in many places — up to 10 cords of firewood and up to three Christmas trees — and caps can be relaxed where resources allow. The department projects the combined programs will deliver nearly $10 million in holiday savings to families while helping reduce hazardous fuels on public lands. Continue reading