Coldbrook Campgrounds

02/21/2026

Crystal Lake and Coldbrook campgrounds are full, cars are being turned around at the Valley of the Moon

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12/05/2024

Numerous hiking trails remain closed as the continues to burn and smolder in the burn footprint. Forest Service is dropping hazards and addressing soil shifts and boulders released due to burned brush, which means that the hiking trails will remain closed for an unknown amount of time.

Glendora Mountain Road and parts of the East Fork Road and Glendora Ridge Road are expected to remain closed at least until the start of January.

Highway 39 all the way to the Crystal Lake Recreation Area remain open for now, and camping at Coldbrook Campground and Crystal Lake are currently open, though snow may cause things to close.

11/25/2024

Trash collection, November 30th!

West Fork Parking Lot along Highway 39 in the Angeles National Forest. Volunteers will be given work gloves and trash bags and will go up the North and West Forks of the San Gabriel River collecting and bagging trash, returning to the parking lot with their collections.

If volunteers want to address spray paint vandalism, they will be given Kover Kote, a carboard bucket, and brushes to apply the material on to spray paint that they find.

The flier below will be printed to paper and be provided for volunteers to place in their car windshields in the hopes that the U.S. Forest Service will not require volunteers to acquire an Adventure Pass.

Help spread the word, let's see if we can get some volunteers to turn out for a disorganized trash collection effort before the rainy season. Laura Zenk. will be coordinating the event.

Bring drinking water, and a hat might be a good idea.

11/07/2024

Volunteer Opportunity: Clean-Up of Trash and Graffiti

Date: Saturday, November 30th

Time: 8:00am – 12:00pm (or longer if necessary)

Meeting Place: West Fork National Scenic Bikeway Parking Lot (large parking lot on the left-hand side when heading up the mountain)

Supplies Provided: Trash bags and gloves. Additionally, we have 4 buckets and 4 paint brushes available to apply Kover Kote on spray paint vandalism. However, if you can bring a bucket to mix it with water and a brush, please do so, if you wish to cover up spray paint.

Items to Bring: If you have trash clampers, please bring them. Also, bring a high-visibility shirt/vest, drinking water/sports drinks, and an Adventure Pass for parking.

The clean-up efforts will primarily focus on the West Fork area (whatever is accessible at this time).

10/22/2024

Highway 39 is apparently open, East Fork is still closed

10/19/2024

Highway 39 just closed. Crystal Lake Campgrounds, Coldbrook Campgrounds, Off Highway Elmer Pen, all closed until further notice.

10/09/2024

The Angeles NF remains in “Extreme” Fire Restrictions. No open flame of any type. THIS INCLUDES PROPANE COOKING STOVES. When the fire fighters say "no flame of any type," they mean *everything*, including burning to***co products.

The U.S. Forest Service is serious about this, everyone in California has had enough, so anyone caught doing anything with fire is going to be shown zero mercy.

Hikers/forest visitors, plan ahead, stay hydrated and adjust your outdoor activities as needed.

10/02/2024

What's left of the -- spots burning in the interior of the burn footprint continue to smolder with 98 percent containment.

09/30/2024

San Gabriel River, Mountains, and Crystal Lake Campgrounds mentioned -- at the 4 minute mark. :) As the climate warms, flora and fauna continue to migrate, species sifting, some winners, some losers

40th Anniversary Celebration of the CNPS San Gabriel Mountains Chapter 9/26/2024 Join us for the San Gabriel Mountains Chapter's 40th anniversary presentatio...

09/19/2024

In case people missed it, a good look at what burned and what did not. Incomplete but a good look.

Popular trails, including the Bridge to Nowhere hike, were burned by the massive blaze, which destroyed dozens of buildings in Mount Baldy and Wrightwood.

09/15/2024

The rest of Mount San Antonio a.k.a. Mount Baldy may burn over. So far the is being held at bay West and South of the Town of Wrightwood proper with structure protection being reported to be working, up to a point. Much of Wrightwood burned :( And much was saved :)

Wright Mountain burned, a long section of Angeles Crest Highway is in the burn footprint, Table Mountain and Big Pine burned.

We saw much of this with the to the West and South years ago: the fire swept North up the mountain, then down the mountain and out in to the desert where the Northern edge of the fire was extinguished on the desert floor.

Baden Powell has not burned, and with winds heading East that won't happen. If winds shift West, the fire will be sent over already-burned ground so Badel Powell seems safe. That is a *very* popular hike.

Other GREAT news is that Crystal Lake Campgrounds and Coldbrook Campgrounds did not burn, the North West edge of the fire did not reach South Mount Hawkins Ridge.

Bichota Canyon Trail was only slightly burned on the canyon's Eastern edge. San Dimas Experimental Forest did not burn. Camp Williams did not burn.

Seems to me that we are seeing some good luck and bad luck. The long section of Angeles Crest Highway that burned has damaged roadway but we saw fire crews driving on it as it burned so maybe the damage isn't too bad -- we'll likely start to see photos and video increasingly as fire crews post their materials.

It feels to me with the cooler weather that the news won't be so dire as it has been. Five percent containment on the Bridge Fire is an accomplishment that smells like good news to me, any way.

It's been surreal, like a dream, or a nightmare. So many cherished spaces burning over and houses lost. Yet we saw with the Bobcat Fire burning through Little Jimmy Trail Camp, the damage doesn't last forever. Little Jimmy burned much of the ground fuels and left most of the trees damaged but still living.

The U.S. Forest Service has detailed plans and procedures, policies for restoring the burn footprint with an eye toward helping to heal the watersheds that are silted up, and they have procedures for assisting with the habitat loss for all the flora and fauna that survive. They also have avenues of funding for restoration after a major burn so that's hopeful news.

Creatures that were able to stay ahead of the fire and escape lost their habitats and may encroach on urban interfaces. We saw that with Colby Fire and Bobcat Fire: Coyote, mountain lion, and bears came in to the Foothill Cities looking for cats to eat, water to drink.

When I have been driving on surface streets and on the 210 freeway, when passing a fire vehicle I have been waving and giving them thumbs-up. Many of them are from other States and other forests come to help, and I see a lot of people doing the same, waving as they zoom past fire vehicles. :)

We do so very much adore our fire fighters.