A Measurement Decides a Trail’s FateFifty inches. That’s the width of a bath towel laid out flat, or two dining chairs pushed together. It’s also the number a lawyer, not an engineer, chose twenty-five years ago to decide which off-road routes across 44 million acres of national forest are legally protected from repair and which ones aren’t. Twenty-five years.
About five miles east of the town of McCloud, a side road turns off Highway 89 at the sign for Fowler’s Campground. Over the next mile and a half, that road passes all three falls – Lower, Middle, and Upper – each with its own parking lot a short walk to the water.
This is the McCloud River, cutting through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest on its way down from Mount Shasta’s southern flank. Lower, Middle, and Upper Falls sit close enough together that you can walk the whole stretch on one trail or drive to each one separately – from parking lot to parking lot.
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.
Forest managers restrict summit approaches after heavy snow and rescue operations — check official alerts before heading into the San Gabriels.
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.
