Henninger Flats: 09-19-2009

Post by **HikeUp** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 3:58 pm

The ANF is closed and I didn't want to drive far, so I decided to hike up to Henninger Flats. Started at Eaton Cyn. Nature Center and hiked up the Mt. Wilson Toll Road to Henninger Flats.

The huge land slide (circa 2005) that blocked the toll road was repaired recently. The smaller slides (impassable by vehicles) up near Henninger were hastily repaired during the Station Fire to provide access to fight the fire. Thus the Toll Road up to Henninger is in excellent condition. The pedestrian gate on Pinecrest Dr. was closed for the fire and was still closed despite the fact that the Eaton Cyn. Park is open.

The entire route is outside the ANF except for a short section of the toll road (see picture of map). I've seen other maps that indicate even this short section is outside of the ANF. Anyway, the hike is open to all. Can't go past Henninger though.

A short but worthwhile outing at about 1600' and 6+ miles round trip. Pics (including full size version of map shown below).

New sign at the entrance to Henninger Flats...

Map of the area...

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 6:55 pm

Hey, nice hike. I guess the USFS is cutting LA County some slack by letting the MWTR be used. You could stay off the USFS land by staying on the "horse trail."

I just looked at the Mt. Wilson Quad. The USGS quad shows the same boundaries as the map at the McCurdy Nature Center does.

Not sure how accurately the ANF boundaries are drawn; the boundary is a little questionable. It shows parts of Loma Alta Drive and its side streets as being within the ANF which I somehow doubt.

edenooch · Post by **edenooch** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 5:30 am

I was wondering about this place

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 9:27 am

edenooch wrote:I was wondering about this place

There should be a few places like this:
Arroyo Seco (city of Pasadena) -- open last I heard
Henninger Flats (LA County) -- open
Deukmejian Wilderness Park (City of Glendale) -- closed
Monrovia Canyon Park (Monrovia, duh) -- open?
Arcadia Wilderness Park (Arcadia) -- open?

There's another one out by Claremont whose name escapes me, but that should be open. Never been; no 411 on that one.

lik2hik · Post by **lik2hik** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 11:07 am

Hikin Jim:
I believe the place you are referring to Near Clarement is the Claremont Hills Wilderness park at the top of Mills Ave. Some friends of ours live out that way and hike there regularly. I saw them on Saturday and they said it was open. According to Claremont website, it is open.

http://www.ci.claremont.ca.us/ps.citypr ... fm?ID=1709

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 1:33 pm

lik2hik wrote:Hikin Jim:
I believe the place you are referring to Near Clarement is the Claremont Hills Wilderness park at the top of Mills Ave. Some friends of ours live out that way and hike there regularly. I saw them on Saturday and they said it was open. According to Claremont website, it is open.

http://www.ci.claremont.ca.us/ps.citypr ... fm?ID=1709

That's the one. Thanks.

I just called Monrovia Canyon Park. They were open, but they are closed as of today until weather conditions improve.

Post by **HikeUp** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 11:48 am

There are new signs posted at the Eaton Cyn Nature Center. Today the signs were universally ignored. Many, many, many people were hiking and biking all the way up to the Flats. Note the "No Fire" signs and the National Forest Orders provide some reference to County or CFR codes. The new signs do not and carry no weight I'm guessing (they're just friendly suggestions perhaps

). The Toll Road is, as stated earlier, mostly in the County and not in the ANF. The horse trail is a way to bypass the part of the Toll Road that is in the ANF.

A few pics.

New sign...

AW~ · Post by **AW~** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:18 pm

thats what happens with chronic closures...its just ignored.

http://mtwilsontollroad.swcamborne.com/
The 'informer' was stopped by a forestry truck though....

Post by **HikeUp** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:27 pm

AW wrote:thats what happens with chronic closures

Or bullshit closures. Toll Road to Henninger Flats is NOT a National Forest area. Sign is wrong.

Post by **HikeUp** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:43 pm

You can probably tell that I'm pissed off at just about everything and everyone involved with the Station Fire and its aftermath.

I didn't think it was possible but I'm even more cynical than ever about people.

Fuckers.