Trails that have been closed since January 2025 are gradually reopening in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Several parks and trails managed by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) have been reopened to public use in the past week, with a few notable exceptions. An amended order of closure was posted on Friday, along with an update on MRCA’s Instagram.
In March, we joined forces with the SMMTC and CORBA trail crews to help CA State Parks with post-fire trail restoration work on the north side of Topanga SP. There was a huge turnout for these events, and our volunteers did great work! Together we made repairs to the fire-damaged Gizmo Trail, with a second team simultaneously working nearby on the Rita Walters Trail, outside the burn perimeter.
State Parks program managers have outlined the next phase of reopening of roads and trails in Topanga State Park, and, if there are no ongoing concerns after a final review, they’re looking to reopen Eagle Rock Fire Road, Eagle Springs Fire Road, and Fire Road #30 to the Hub Junction in the next couple of weeks—once DWP has completed their work on the power lines, and cleared their equipment from the roads.
They wish to reopen Garapito Trail at the same time, which makes a really nice loop hike when combined with those roads. Getting Garapito ready for reopening is currently the #1 priority for the Sierra Club trail crew and our partners!
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Check the Topanga SP webpage for news, as this will invariably be the first source of official announcements about CA State Parks trails reopening and extended closures.
East Topanga Fire Road to Parker Mesa from Trippet Ranch is also poised to reopen in the coming weeks, but we expect there will be a longer-term closure beyond the Parker Mesa junction to avoid feeding the public into the Palisades closure areas.
Los Liones Trail had only minimal damages. The State Parks crew went in in March and cleared all the burned vegetation, removed landslides, and widened the trail bench. However, with the trail still closed and lack of foot traffic through springtime, it’s probably growing in very quickly and may well need some additional rehab.
Work on Santa Ynez Canyon Trail is tentatively set to begin in late June, depending on access.
Will Rogers State Historic Park is closed until further notice while the park is supporting the clean-up effort. Staff have been working to get the trails into shape, ready to reopen when the time comes. They’ve finished cleaning up all the day-use trails, as far as removing obstructions. They’re currently doing finish-work, and rebuilding structures like retaining walls and small bridges.
Rogers Road—the Backbone Trail section between Will Rogers and the Hub Junction, which includes the Chicken Ridge—remains closed indefinitely.
Check the Will Rogers SHP webpage for official updates.
-Rachel G.
P.S. On Saturday 6/14, we will be hosting another Intro to Trail Maintenance event for California State Parks Week. Subscribe to our mailing list to receive details.