Would-Be Hikers Protest Trail Closure

About 60 hikers gathered at the beginning of a trail through Caballero Canyon in Tarzana on Saturday to protest the closure of the popular mountain access route, which was damaged during recent heavy rains.

“With the canyon being closed, you can’t hike, you can’t bike, you can’t go birding,” said Jean Rosenfeld, spokeswoman for the Friends of Caballero Canyon, which held a news conference at the spot.

“We have no substitute for this kind of recreation of body and spirit,” she said. “The ordinary person can’t afford a golf course, a health club or a safari to Africa.”

About 200 hikers and nature enthusiasts use the trail every weekend to explore the canyon, which extends from Hermano Drive to Mulholland Drive in the Santa Monica Mountains, Rosenfeld said.

Several people intending to take a morning hike Saturday joined the protest after they discovered the closure sign, Rosenfeld said.

Half of the canyon belongs to Topanga Canyon State Park and half to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, according to Ken Nelson, park ranger for the Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority, a branch of the conservancy.

State parks and conservancy officials closed the trail after February’s heavy rains because of safety concerns, Nelson said. Rosenfeld said she agreed that temporary closure for safety reasons was a responsible move.

“It was just an expression of disappointment and outrage that this resource has been closed without explanation and no notion of when it’s going to be restored,” Rosenfeld said.

She said that 20 or 30 hikers have volunteered to help repair the trail.

Moreover, Rosenfeld said, Friends of Caballero Canyon would like to see a better access route constructed. The route that was damaged in the rain had eroded and become too rugged for many people who traditionally enjoyed exploring the area--such as the disabled, the elderly and children in strollers, Rosenfeld said.

The access route into the canyon, meant to be temporary, was created three years ago after another access was destroyed during the building of a road, Rosenfeld said. She also claimed that development altered the contours of the canyon, changing the course of water runoff through the area and contributing to erosion.

Rosenfeld said that Friends of Caballero Canyon and others will push government officials to build a better trail.