Santa Ana's trail conditions(Harding/Maple Springs/HJ/Trabuco Rd Update)

Trabuco Canyon Road / Holy Jim 12/31

Here's the scoop on Trabuco Canyon / Holy Jim as of this morning. First Trabuco Canyon:



It was COLD out there this morning! Frozen puddles, frozen soil, and ice at the creek crossings making it slick as you were approaching the water. You know it is cold when standing in the creek with water up to your knees is warmer than standing in the air. Trabuco Canyon Road was in poor shape as we left, but got better through the day (more on that later). Road was about 25% washed out from the airfield up to the National Forest boundary. There were two areas of bad rockslide that covered the road as well and will need to be removed to open up the road to MOST car traffic. I say "most" because there was one truck that drove all the way up to the National Forest cabins, so it is not completely impassable if you have the right type of lifted 4WD vehicle. Creek crossings were all rideable except #3 in the National Forest which is washed out (as previously reported). However once you get into the National Forest the road is actually in pretty good shape up to the parking lot (with the exception of crossing #3). There are a few ruts and some rocks, but nothing the can't be biked around/over.

The road from the parking lot to the trailhead is mostly clear, with the exception of one section where the road has been turned into a stream for the time being. Most of this can be gotten around / avoided without too much hassle. There is still a tree down across the road that you have to crouch under.

Holy Jim itself is a mix of good and bad. Up to the falls I would describe it in POOR condition. There are eight creek crossing in this section and all have been substantially widened, including some that now have high banks. The trail from the first to the second crossing is unrideable currently and consists of grapefruit-sized loose rocks. The second crossing is over knee deep and requires you to lift your bike up onto a 2' bank on the far side. Not too hard for someone 6' tall but you might struggle if you are a shorter biker. Two of the upper crossings have jumped their old creek banks and now have eaten up large sections of trail so that the old entries and exits are gone. The highest crossing now requires you to go downstream a little and come back up around the rocks instead of being able to cross directly. Several other sections of trail have been washed out and now consist of rocks / ruts versus the flat trail that existed earlier. Some of these can be ridden, some not. Oh - and before I forget, they DID get out and cut up the tree that was down across the trail - so that barrier at least is gone.

Once ABOVE the falls, the trail is in GOOD shape. There is a little erosion, and the rock-garden areas are much more so than in the past, but it has held up well in the rains. None of the switchbacks were washed out (though some were a little more rutted than in the past). It might benefit from some raking, but otherwise very enjoyable with no major issues.

And now on to the TRUCKS!



Riding up, we didn't see a soul. Coming down, we got to the point where the road was most severely washed-out, and there were a pile of 4WDers standing in line to try to drive over the various obstacles. Remember that 4' bank down to the new creek bed? No longer. I don't doubt that by the end of the day they may even be getting up to the National Forest Boundary. From this point down and out, the road was in much better shape - simply due to the dozens of trucks driving up and down a flattening it out. On the way up we had to struggle over loose shale and stone; on the way out much of it had been driven into the mud. Additionally, the first creek crossing by the airplane field is now very rideable (due to the constant truck traffic). The bed is flattened rock with no big boulders about 1' deep or so. I could ALMOST ride out without getting my feet wet.



So there you have it. I don't know how far they'll get today, but there seemed to be a group set on trying to get all the way up. They may even be able to tow some of the boulders out of the way(?) I thought it was going to be a while before that first creek crossing was open, but now I'd even drive through it with my SUV...

I'd say that if you had even a moderate 4WD / SUV vehicle the road is now open to the bottom of Cadillac.

 

Black Star 12/31

The road before the cabins has a couple mudslides: not rideable, but easy enough to walk over. There was a lake: about a foot deep, the width of the road, thirty feet long, with ice floating in it. Once you plow through the ice water lake, you don't really have to worry about lesser puddles for the rest of the day.

The trail is good after you start the climb out of the canyon. The meadow area has a lot of mud. Big cats and their cubs don't seem to be fazed by icy puddles and mud.

Realistically, we should have chosen a different place to ride today. It's going to take quite a while to clean the bike after this.

 

I was the guy in yellow down at Peltzer Pines waiting for his buddy to show up and we eventually turned around just after the upper meadow where the road completely washed out and left the 20' gap with the metal drainage pipe and the upstream block wall intact. I don't know how my buddy and I missed those tracks since we were looking...saw lots of deer tracks everywhere in the upper meadow area.

The mud isn't too bad...only took about 20 minutes with the hose on low (no nozzle) and a nylon brush to get into the nooks and crannies.

 

Had a chance to get out and assess Trabuco & West Horse Thief yesterday Dec 30. With the Main Divide closed to all motorized vehicles, we had no choice but to park at the San Juan trail shuttle point and hike up the "Wall" #-o

It was cold out this morning, about 31 deg when we arrived at the lot.


Trabuco Assessment:

Some good ruts right in the line which will need to be repaired or they will become deeper when the next rains come


The problem will be to find soil to use as most of it got washed away


Here's a section that was repaired several years ago. Those bars were not exposed before but the soil around it has washed away. The trail is about 3 feet narrower here.


As you can see, the top soil is gone exposing more rock.


Some of the streams have gotten deeper


This was already there from last years storm.


Here is where the real damage happened. This is the section on Trabuco as you approach the West Horse Thief junction. This creek used to be rideable for some. Now as you can see, it is a dismount and you'll have to carry your bike across.


Here is a closer look. You can't even see where the trail picks up on the other side. :-k


Here is some perspective as you can see the Chip and Keith as thy approach the creek


Here is what it looks like from the the WHT/Trabuco sign on the other side.


Another look as viewed from WHT


Overall, Trabuco faired well considering. There are more exposed rocks and the ruts are probably the worst damage the trail suffered. Trabuco was not an easy trail for many and it just got more challenging with the deeper creeks and ruts. Expect a chunkier more technical ride than before.

We did some brushing on Trabuco on our way down, so the trail is clear. The only thing is we did not go all the way down to the trailhead as we headed up WHT. Hopefully someone can report on that if we don't get to it soon.

West Horse Thief Assessment:

The entrance is blocked from another fallen tree. We cut some of the smaller branches, but will need a chainsaw to clear.


Since we were here and about to go up WHT, we figured we'd do some brushing Chip getting ready for some brushing


WHT is in great condition. No tread damage, no ruts. We brushed all the to the 4th switchback and then we ran out of time. We plan on brushing it again, but until after the next storms since there may be deadfall to clear. There were none at this point.


There was 1 fracture in the tread here which will fail eventually if not addressed. When we go up to finish brushing, we will address this then


Nearing the top of WHT which is welcome section for those VQ'ers. The usual ruts, but nothing major. Love this section and the views here are great!


After a long day...., time to hike back to Blue Jay #-o


As we hiked we saw some boulders along the Main Divide which is why the road is closed.


Still, it was was a gorgeous day out and I couldn't think of anything better to do.

 

Maple Springs to Silverado Motorway Conditions

After hiking in and doing some brushing and assessment on Trabuco and WHT, I didn't think I'd have legs left for this ride. Glad I did as it was another gorgeous day in SoCal.

I won't cover Maple Springs as it has been well documented by others here. Just watch out for brown ice on your way up the pavement and especially if you headed down Maple Springs.

Silverado Motorway Assessment:

From the trailhead to the right hand turn where we re-routed it after the fire, the trails is overall in good condition.

The section where it is chunky just before the re-route has some deeper ruts, but still rideable and fast.

When you come to the sign you'll noticed it is down. Some how it will need to re-mount this.


After the re-route, the sections are pretty normal. The brush is light, but we'll go up and do some light brush work this Spring. There's a few sections where the trail could fail in the future if not addressed, but nothing that you can't ride through for now.

This is looking back up trail.


Here is another that has gotten worse year after year. We'll need to bench and bring the trail up some away from the edge and provide drainage so it doesn't erode more.


Here's the 3rd. Doesn't seem so bad but it has gotten narrower and narrower


This is what that section looked like in 2008. (Jim aka kioti pictured)


Same section as you view at it as you approach it coming down. Won't be long before it becomes a gap.


This is the section that has slid the past 2 years. As reported by others here and on Geoladders, it slid away again this year.


Just to give you some perspective. Here it is on Feb 2009. (Jordan pictured here)


Here is what it looked like after Ken and I cleared it just a few days prior to the VQ/CC in 2009.






... and what it looks like now.


That section will not take much to fix. The problem is trying to prevent it from happening year after year.

The real damage is just below at the last right turn. Others have already posted it here as well(see post #20)

Doesn't look bad from up here.


As you get closer, you can see how chunky it is.


No real clear line to ride as the rocks just turn over as you go over them. You don't want to go right. #-o


Not a huge section, about 25 yards or so. It will require some work to create a line rideable as there is no soil left. It's all rock.

Here is where you can pick up the trail again


Overall, Maple Springs to Motorway is still a very rideable loop. Maple Springs is clear for hiking and biking. Motorway is as fun and fast as usual. Just keep and eye out for those sections as who knows what the next storm will do to them. I'll be going up to do some work hopefully next week if it doesn't rain too much. It'll be a week day type trail work as I work on Saturdays and Sundays. Probably looking at Wed or Thurs.

 

I plan on doing that loop one day next week Gene. Lemme know if you want to go.

 

I will probably not ride it as I plan to work it next week if weather permits. I'll hike up the Motorway and work the 2 sections. There are other sections up higher that will need work, but I'll focus on these 2 for now. I'll post here when I nail down a day and time. Feel free to join me if you want.

The weather forecast is rain Sun-Tues. Possible showers Wed. Thurs looks good with partly cloudy.

 

Rode SJT to Los Pinos today (Jan 1).

SJT - as stated its in pretty good shape up to Cocktail Rock, just a few wet sections here and there. There are a few places where the side slope is starting to slide away from the trail but I'm not sure if this is new or old.

We rode Old San Juan to check out the new bridge - thanks to all who worked on that! This trail is a little more worse for wear, but I haven't ridden it in ages so don't know if the ruts are new or old. Sections of trail in the shade tended to be frozen/frosted. Sections in the sun had melted and were a bit soft. Overall its in decent shape considering the past week's rain, and we were able to ride pretty much all of it including cleans on almost all the steep climbs.

Los Pinos - the top part of the trail is wet, you can feel the gravel/shale squishing more than normal under your wheels, which makes it a bit harder to make the climbs - also wet trail on several of the descents. No major ruts or damage. Lower down its dryer, and there were only puddles or wet spots at the bottom of each descent. The chunky stuff and switchbacks on the lower part of the trail are all rideable and in great shape.

It was chilly to start but once the sun was up it was perfect riding weather. Any breeze was chilly. Not very many people out there riding today.

 

I'm off work next Friday, so if either of you want to ride and/or work on that loop, let me know.

 

Blackstar conditions

I am not seeing a thread on Blackstar. Is there another name for the trail which I am not aware of?

Went there on Saturday. It looked like this "for the most part" and if you can get to it



Getting to the good parts meant jumping through a bunch of hoops. Literally. Before getting to the private homes (is there a name for that little commune?), I counted about 5 muddy parts like this.



And the worst.



Seems like the whole side of the mountain came down.

I really shouldn't have gone. It was cold, which made the trip back to my car miserable.

UPDATE: I only rode about 4 miles into the trail and turned around. Didn't make it all the way to the Beeks Place.

 

Thanks very much for the update and photos. I was just trading messages with a friend who rode it just before this latest rain, and his verbal description matched your pics. With that clay and all the shade in the canyon and Hidden Valley, it's gonna take a couple weeks without more rain to really dry up.

There have been some bad washouts in the last few years further up. Did you go to the golf ball, and if so, what kind of shape were the upper parts in?

 

Rode only about 4 miles into the trail and back because it was getting dark and cold.

 

No, all threads on Santa Ana trails here. Thanks for the report.

 

Okay, I feel ignorant. Can someone explain to me what the "Santa Ana trails" encompass? One thing I did not mention was that it was my first time exploring the Black Star. What a beauty that is.

 

I rode Eagle/ Silverado/ Blackstar/ Skyline Saturday afternoon. All was well besides a few muddy spots and a large wash out on Silverado and one on Blackstar. Mostly everything ridable or a very short hike a bike. Also single track on Skyline is not dry enough for riding yet.

Cheers,

C.K.

 

Next Friday the 7th or the 14th?

 

It refers to trails in the Santa Ana Mountain range.

 

^^^^ yes and in addition: it's the mountain that includes everything from Black Star to San Juan. Some of these roads are listed as Forest Roads, Forest Truck Trails and Connector Roads. Black Star is a connector road listed on page 2 of this attachment:

View attachment Cleveland Trails.pdf

 

The most comprehensive trail report I have ever seen on this site..:wave:

 

A Joplin update here; Joplin Trailwork- Grace Earns Her PAK #7 Shirt