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San Dimas Canyon

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:37 pm
by realshafer
So my brother and I just started driving yesterday and ended up in what turned out to be San Dimas Canyon. I know now that it is off limits for hiking, but at the time, it was just another dirt road in the mountains. Anyway, just wanted to share a little of what I saw there.

There's two forks near the locked gated entrance, east and west. Up the east side first, we passed a number of ruined cabins and maybe one or two that seemed to be still inhabited.

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Less than I mile in, we came to a bend in the road, and then a locked gate. Notice the security camera. We spotted just the top of a fairly large looking house on top of a hill just to the left of the gate.

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So we returned to the fork and went up the west side. Immediately we passed several houses that appeared to be occupied. The windows were all intact, no graffiti, doors shut, ect. Then we passed a house that was obviously in disrepair. It looked like it had been broken into.

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After checking it out from a distance, we concluded that it was definitely unihabited and decided to take a peak through the windows. To our surprise the house was filled with stuff! I'd guess that someone has been living there in its current state of disrepair, given the accumulation of all that stuff. But who knows.

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We continued up the road passing about six or seven more cabins in a similar state. Most of them looked as if the whole of their contents had been thrown up all over the dirt road. Pretty freaky if you ask me. All the houses had these signs in the window. Does anyone know what they mean?

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Also some strange architecture back here too.

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So we continued up the road to its "end," where a berm had been built to block the way. Up ahead the forest was completely overgrown, and yet we spotted a few more structures. Plus the map I had showed the road continuing up to Glendora Ridge Road. So we bushwacked our way through it for a while until we again found remnants of the road, now heavily overgrown with vegetation. Does anyone know the story of this road? I think it is called San Dimas Canyon Road West Fork. It both interests me and gives me the chills. I definitely won't go back, but I'm interested nonetheless.

Re: San Dimas Canyon

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 7:01 pm
by Taco
Very cool.

No other info about the road. Sorry.

Re: San Dimas Canyon

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:56 pm
by AW~
Internet items were:

SAN DIMAS CANYON CLOSED TO PUBLIC ACCESS
"For public safety, the Angeles National Forest has announced closure of the San Dimas Canyon area effective Wednesday, March 12. The closure includes both the west fork and the main fork of the canyon, and it will remain closed to public access until the area has been cleaned up and is safe to enter."
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/angeles/news/20 ... osed.shtml

cabins:
http://www.ulv.edu/comms/lvm/win04/ashes.htm
"Before the Williams Fire twisted its way through the foothills, San Dimas Canyon was a stark contrast of beauty and defilement. Colossal pine and oak trees, beautiful orange and yellow flowers and green vine covered hills covered the canyon. A tranquil stream weaved through, choked with crushed Bud Light and half-full Coca Cola aluminum cans, soiled baby diapers and plastic bottles. Graffiti-plastered boulders greeted hikers who entered the canyon looking for the idyllic beauty of wild Southern California."
http://www.ulv.edu/~borere/comms/lvm/sp03/fire.htm


Opinion:Sounds sort of the Crystal Lake of San Dimas. This one though is in the expermintal forest so it may never open again. Maybe all we will be left with is:

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too bad if thats the case as I thought access was open.

Re: San Dimas Canyon

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 9:06 pm
by Taco
Is that Wolfskill Falls?

Re: San Dimas Canyon

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:36 pm
by AW~
TacoDelRio wrote:Is that Wolfskill Falls?
yup. I hope we can still hike to it although it is certainly up the east fork road of that canyon, and that "private property" doesnt make a whole lot of sense....I never got a chance to see it, looks like a good move not to do the drive just to find a locked gate and ponder stealth hiking. Im all for leaving the experimental forest totally alone, but it seems this one could be closed for a long time for reasons unrelated to that. Supposedly its one of our best waterfalls...sure looks like it :D

More info is needed for sure. Is that sign there to scare off people or for reals? I know one location that I went to had a no trespassing sign. I emailed the property owner a rude letter protesting the sign. I got an email back saying that basically the area was being over-run by scum. Last time I saw this particular locale, the no trespassing was posted correctly to the private property and no parking signs posted.

As I read it, most of the cabins in San Dimas canyon are no longer standing and a lot of people have returned them to the forest service...but someone went through a lot of trouble to put that gate there...

Re: San Dimas Canyon

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 11:45 pm
by Taco
Harumph.

It would be a shame to never see Wolfskill... I've been on ridges nearby and I'm always wondering how to get there safely...

Re: San Dimas Canyon

Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 12:08 pm
by realshafer
Hey, just thought I'd chime back in and say that when I returned to my car after exploring the area, I found a note on my windshield saying that there was no public access to the area and that my license plate number had been written down. Nothing overly aggressive, but still prohibiting. I'd love to go to those falls, but I'd beware of those cameras and that big gate.