Turnbull Canyon Conditions Old Thread

It rained a fair amount last night at least here in OC, but I would like to ride it Thanksgiving morning.

How would I check to see if it's open? Or does it ever close? Even if it's open, does it drain fairly well? By Thanksgiving morning, it will have been about 35 hours.

 

It never closes and a few of us are doing a Turkey Run tomorrow; check the "Trailhead" forum for details.

 

Turnbull and other trails in the Puente Hills do indeed close: "All trails are open sunrise to sunset, except during extreme or hazardous weather conditions. All trails are closed 48 hours after the rain. Some parks take longer to dry than others; those areas may be closed for longer periods of time. Also, all trails are closed during red flag days (extreme fire hazard days). " Source: http://www.habitatauthority.org/trailaccess.shtml

I'm guessing we will be fine for tomorrow since I dont think it rained here much (in Whittier, only 0.01" at 1am)last night and hasnt rained since Sunday early morning. They put a big red sign up on the gate to the fireroad at Turnbull when it is closed. If you want to know for sure without driving there, call this number for trail access: "Updated trail information is also available by calling (562) 945-9003, extension 5#."

What's been weird is that I've been seeing the rangers out there A LOT more than in the past. Still not all the time but enough to be worried about getting randomly ticketed (last time I talked to Ranger Francine, she was saying they do give tickets and have been)... I know they do for sure patrol up Friday and Saturday nights.

Good question! 7th is actually pretty bad to drain and remains muddy the longest (out of all the trails at Turnbull) a couple days after rain because it is mostly shaded. And it's the kind of mud that cakes on and rips up the trails pretty badly. BUUUUT it hasnt rained significantly since Sunday morning so I think we should be fine.

 

Great area flying threw there in a hour or so. Went yesterday slow dirt in areas but still super great in other areas. Here's the deal, ride your bike and have fun and enjoy it while you can. Conditions there are as good as you make them and to me they are good everyday regardless! Thanks, now ride.

 

I rode Turnbull today around noon. Conditions were excellent...dirt was nice & tacky. I only saw 2 spots with standing water/mud which were very easy to avoid.

 

I rode from Beverly to the water tower a couple of hours ago and it was almost perfect. A few mud patches near the back end of the tower but other than that its all good.

 

Yea, I just got back a couple hours ago. Conditions are excellent. Have fun tomorrow!!!!

 

Hey guys/gals should I assume that Turnbull will be unrideable tomorrow just like everything else? THANKS

 

YUP!!! I'm betting it's not even open (you can always call to find out), it rained here last evening pretty hard. And last week, it rained so hard that caskets here in Rose Hills (other side of Turnbull) were exposed!!!(wtf?!?!)!!! I can't imagine how messed up and muddy the trails are right now, especially with some people who prob attempted to ride them Christmas and today. I'm hoping for the best though after a week or so when everything is dried out!

 

You guys think they will be good for the 1st of jan?

 

Depends how much rain we get Wednesday. There's some places with a lot of clay content there so some might be rideable but my guess is not much.

 

after not having ridden my bike since Dec. 9, 2010, I decided to take a short ride up Turnbull Canyon. I started out around 3pm and as I got to the trailhead on Beverly Blvd, this is what greeted me...



looking at the sign I thought the trail was closed. However several hikers and riders just went straight on ahead and when I asked if the trail was legally open, all of them said "Yes". Just to be sure, doesn't that RED SIGN mean the trail is closed, or is it just a warning that it will remain closed after 48 hours of rain? It rained Sunday Morning so technically, 48 hrs have passed on Tuesday afternoon.

After getting all those "Yes" answers and seeing that the trail was in good "hard packed dirt" condition, I decided to continue up the fire road to the Water Tower and here are a few pics to give you an idea of what the trail looks like after all the rains we've been having...

at the start of the trail...


one of the small berms near the start of the trail has completely eroded


the fire road was 99% hard pack dirt all the way up


one of the few sections on the climb up that was still soft from the rain


a berm along the fire road that was partially eroded


at the fork in the road that heads up to the water tower and to Rattlesnake/Escalator


right before the uphill left hander on the main fire road


taking a breather and looking back where I just came from


still climbing up. Take note, the trail is still hard packed dirt with no mud sticking on the tires.


at the base of the roller after the 3B's


at the bottom of the 3 B's




near the bottom of the water tower


beautiful day to be out riding




before climbing up to the Water Tower. You could see that the rains have exposed the pipes


looking down from the northern section of the water tower


overlooking the 3 B's


after resting a bit, I decided to forego the 7th Ave section and head down via A-Side.


(to be continued)

 

after climbing up to the water tower and resting a bit, I headed down to A-Side via the 3 B's.
Here's a section of the trail that still has a bit of water.


one of the few parts of the trail that has eroded


at the start of A-Side





a small puddle in the middle of A-Side


a section of A-Side that eroded




generally like the fire road, A-Side was hard packed dirt


this was the only section on A-Side where the trail was slippery


still on A-Side



near the short downhill connector to Friends Ave. This part of A-Side is almost totally gone because of the rains


the view that greeted me when I got home



Despite the rains, Turnbull Canyon (Fire Road climb up to the Water Tower - down 3B's - A-Side) is generally in good condition. There were hardly any areas that were soft and still had water. I don't know about the condition of 7th Ave, Rattlesnake/Escalator or Cow Trail. Hopefully it doesn't rain too hard tonight and tomorrow.

 

I'm thinking 7th ave has got to be pretty mushy because it's mostly shaded and there are plenty of areas water could pool up. But idk. Thanks for the RR!

 

Should have got out today while the gettin' was good...

 

7th had its own private security today. This guy wouldn't budge and I was only about 15' away from him. This was about 3:15.

 

i love how your bike is in atleast half of the shots for trail conditions.... ha ha ha ha ha.

 

Tom,
I'd rather have a picture of my bike than of me like how those "cute" hikers stand in the middle of the trail, hold out their camera/cell phone at arms length and take a picture of themselves, and look totally surprised when they turn around and see you just waiting for them to move on lol

 

nice pics!

what kind of camera did you use?

 

i rode tues morning, i started from beverly, climbed around the water tower, decended rattlesnake, climbed elevator/escalator and, cow trail loop and then across to a-side.

beverly and skyline fireroad-fine. there is a large puddle by the 7th st gate, but just ride around it in the grass.

rattlesnake-fine, but at the end, when you climb out, it is muddy with puddles and the trail is VERY slick.

elevator/escalator from rattlesnake to turnbull cyn rd-ok, there was a slide before the first switchback (riding UP), and another at the second to last, both are can be easily navgated around. the last steep pitch before the turnbull is pretty slick, need a good few days of sun to harden up again.

cow trail-the are some small rock slides that i cleaned up a bit. there were about 5 slides of dirt/mud slides. about 3 of them, you can ride over. but 2 of them were pretty large, you have to hike over them. the two large ones bought some dry vegetation with them so you gotta bush wack a little to get your bike over. the trail bed itself is moist and fast for the most part.

cow trail fireroad climb-a little tacky/sticky at the bottom and for the first few feet of climbing, but gets better as you head on up.

sorry, didn't have time to do 7th.

oh, and i would not ride thru the actual canyon (the trail between the bottom of escalator/elevator that hooks up to the beverly fireroad)....that section of trail has lots of clay in it and it wll be muddy for a VERY long time!