Summer’s here, the hills are dry, and the Angeles National Forest just elevated fire danger to HIGH. Effective June 12, 2026, a new forest order is in place covering the entire Angeles National Forest and San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, running through December 31, 2026.
If you’re heading out to the forest this summer – hiking, camping, off-roading, whatever brings you up there – this affects you directly.
It’s that time of year again. If you’ve been following along here, you know I love nothing more than loading up the rig and heading out to some of California’s wide-open BLM lands — but with the dry conditions we’re seeing across the state, the Bureau of Land Management has been rolling out seasonal fire restrictions one field office at a time. So before you plan your next trip, let’s run through what’s changed and where.
These seasonal restrictions stack on top of BLM’s year-round statewide fire prevention order, and they’ll stay in effect “until further notice” — meaning until conditions get wet enough that the fire danger eases up. Here’s the rundown, region by region: Continue reading
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.
California State Parks’ Program, Coordinated with CalFire — Recent Operations Focused in the Santa Cruz MountainsCalifornia State Parks crews are continuing to conduct pile-burning work across the state. The most recent announcement is that they are targeting the Santa Cruz Mountains with pile burns planned across Big Basin Redwoods, Castle Rock, and Henry Cowell (including the Fall Creek unit). Operations are planned, as weather and air-quality windows allow, through April 2026. This is hands-on fuel reduction; not spectacle, not a shortcut, but a deliberate effort to remove the dry wood and brush fuel that can turn a lightning strike or a stray ember into a catastrophic, large-scale, landscape-devouring wildfire.
CAL FIRE has an excellent resource for those of you who live anywhere near a wildfire likely area. Or an area where idiots will host gender reveal parties with by lighting off fireworks in dry brush (it’s a boy, by the way … and congratulations to that new kid whose parents will most likely be arrested, sued, and in debt for quite a while for the stupid act that sparked the El Dorado Fire in San Bernardino County. They should name the kid “Smokey” or “We’re Really Sorry”).
