Volunteer Hours Logged Since 2011:
Fire Restoration
Sunset Ridge Trail
October 29, 2025
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Jay Marion
MWBA volunteers kicked off restoration efforts on Sunset Ridge this past weekend! Over 25 volunteers convened at Loma Alta park for a cool and overcast morning. After carpooling up Chaney Trail, we gathered for a tailgate safety talk and then spread out along lower Sunset Ridge to tackle a variety of restoration projects. This section of the Angeles National Forest remains CLOSED to the public. MWBA is performing restoration efforts with express permission of our partners and land managers at the U.S. Forest Service.
The lower section of Sunset Ridge between Chaney Trail and Millard Campground was on the menu for rehab this month. This section saw light ground fire intensity during the Eaton Fire of January 2025. Since the fire, plants have begun to re-grow into the trail corridor and stabilize the hillsides.
This re-growth is one of the main reasons MWBA and other trail organizations wait before kicking off fire restoration. Immediately after the fire, the conditions are too unstable to begin restoration. Any trail work done immediately following the fire would have been washed away in seasonal rainstorms. With nine months of growth and few rain events to help nature along, its the perfect time for our volunteers to enter the burn area (with permission from the USFS) and begin our efforts.
Beyond brushing efforts, our crews removed an enormous slide about halfway down the trail. Thousands of pounds of soil and rock were removed from the tread. This super steep section of trail has never looked so good!
We will be back on Sunset Ridge soon to continue our restoration efforts. The crew made fantastic progress cleaning up this section. Our upcoming days will focus on longer-term improvements to prepare the trail for winter weather and the eventual reopening.
Sunset Ridge and the Chaney Trail area remains CLOSED to the public per USFS order. MWBA has permission to perform restoration efforts thanks to our partnership with the Angeles National Forest.
