Hikers and Mountain Bikers Blast Wilderness Preserve Closure

Outraged hikers and mountain bikers are pressing the city to reopen portions of the Hillside Wilderness Preserve that remain off limits after heavy rain sent mud and debris pouring onto forest access roads last month.

Entry points to the preserve were , and some of those closures have since been lifted. But areas inside the preserve, including a 2-mile stretch of the Lower Clamshell Road, remain cordoned off for safety reasons, according to Monrovia Fire Chief Christopher Donovan.

Local recreation enthusiasts insist, however, that the landslides pose no real threat to hikers or bikers, who can simply go around the debris. Danny Ray, who frequently bikes along Clamshell, has been corresponding with Donovan in an effort to get restrictions in the preserve rescinded.

"I want to state with absolute clarity that hikers/bikers have a greater chance of being abducted by a UFO while filming Bigfoot than being injured on Clamshell due to this small landslide," Ray wrote in a Feb. 12 email to Donovan.

Resident Trevor Downs, who lives near the Ridgeside Drive trailhead and also bikes frequently in the preserve, agreed and said hikers and bikers are easily capable of getting around the debris that tumbled down.

"There is no danger at all," Downs said. "It's just the most stupid thing I've ever heard in my life."

Access to the preserve has long been a source of contention between some hillside residents and hikers. Residents near the preserve access points complain that the hikers and bikers use the trail at odd hours, make noise, disturb pets, and trespass on private property.

Hikers point out that the Wilderness Preserve is publicly owned land--it was purchased after voters approved Measures A and B in 2000, providing $10 million in property tax funds to purchase hillside land for public recreational use.

"My friends and I love this mountain; we watch over it, patrol it, maintain it," Ray wrote. "If I had known that Clamshell would be closed after every minor landslide or trailhead neighbor complaint, I would have rallied against the property tax..."

The city has taken the official position that "informal access" is allowed inside the 1,400 acre preserve until an official resource management plan can be adopted to govern the land. A forced the city last year to restart the environmental review process in its bid to formally open up the preserve.

Tyler Baze, who lives right next to a preserve access point near Cloverleaf Drive, said he constantly has run-ins with hikers trying to get through a locked gate in front of the wilderness entrance. He's caught teenagers smoking marijuana in the preserve and said opening access to it would just cause more headaches for local homeowners.

"If it was open, I'd move," Baze said. "If I'm not home, I don't want people going up and down the street."

Other residents that will arise if more people come up to the hillsides to use the preserve.

While formal access is still being sorted out, the city is trying to find the money to pay for the removal of the debris on preserve access roads. Donovan spoke with officials at the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal-EMA) on Wednesday about obtaining state disaster relief funds to clean up the mudslides along Clamshell. He said he expects to know in the next few days whether the funding will come through.

"We're hoping in the next couple of days we'll have a clearer direction on getting that section open," Donovan said.

Donovan said the issue of clearing the road is more complex than it appears. The city wants to remove the mud and debris from the road, but also needs to make sure that repairs to the road and hillsides keep the area viable for recreation in the long term.

"It's well beyond taking a tractor up there and pushing the dirt aside," Donovan said. "We can't do that."

Local resident K.J. Crawford said he's been hiking in the preserve near the Ridgeside access point for more than 40 years. He said the city was overreacting in closing part of Clamshell.

"They've never had any problems up here that I know of, in my history," Crawford said. "They have no good reason to deny access."

Crawford still hikes the area about four times per week with his dog, he said.

"This is a jewel," Crawford said. "There are very few places that are this nice where you can get away from the traffic and everything and do a little hiking."