Category Archives: California

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.

Continue reading →

Activities, Adventures, California, Hikes, Land Stewardship & Restoration, News, Outdoors

After the Flood: Southern PCT and Trail Towns Counting the Cost

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Last week’s storms slammed the length of California, dumping heavy rain, triggering floods and debris flows from the Coast Range to the Sierra and through the Transverse Range all the way to the tip of the Peninsular Mountain Range.

The Southern California stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail — a place near and dear to my heart; I live here and have section-hiked the PCT for years — took an especially hard hit, with trailheads, road approaches, water crossings, and low camps dragged or buried by mud and runoff. That stretch changes from low desert washes and sage-and-chaparral foothills up into oak and mixed-conifer slopes on the San Gabriel and San Bernardino ridgelines, then climbs into the higher San Gorgonio and San Jacinto country where pinyon, fir, and true montane/subalpine stands hold late snow. Expect everything from loose, rocky tread and brushy switchbacks to steep gullies that channel flash runoff — which is precisely the kind of terrain that turns a heavy storm into road-and-trail damage in a hurry. Post-storm, gateway towns are digging out, businesses and volunteers are scrambling, and land managers are triaging access and safety across the corridor.
Continue reading →

California, National Parks, Outdoors

Stop the National Park Surcharge Experiment

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Redirect existing revenue, fix the backlog, and keep parks open to everyone.

California boasts nine national parks — more than any other state — that are part of the National Park Service, which protects and manages the more than 10,000 acres of mountains, deserts, seashore, and old-growth forest. Those parks sit alongside numerous other National Park Service–managed units — national monuments, historic sites, preserves, and cultural landscapes — all part of the vast U.S. National Park System, which protects millions of acres under a range of designations.

Continue reading →

California, Hikes, State Parks

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

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

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.
 
Activities, Bureau of Land Management, Off Roading, Outdoors

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

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell
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.

Continue reading →