Palisades fire views from the bike

Coincidentally, following the Palisades fire, I’d been off the bike a bit. But I finally got around to riding our local Santa Monicas, with clearance from friends that the trails were back ‘open’ and rideable. I brought my camera on the ride with Sean, and again on a before-work ride.

It’s crazy how much more open the area is where it burned — the trees no longer block the trail’s sightlines. But enough time has gone by for brush to regrow (and die), so it’s not barren, just… different. Some areas are more apparent than others, like the climb up from Sullivan Canyon to the ridge, and the climb after the full Nick Cage trail. Disneyland trail is weirdly sketchier now that the exposure is so much more visible, despite the trail not being technical. Jedi has been worked on, with some fun new additions on rider’s left, one called Sideburns (and there’s now signage — kudos to that trail crew).

If you go

The January 2025 Palisades Fire reshaped a lot of the front-range Santa Monica Mountains trails. The big thing: ride only once land managers and trail crews actually reopen things — freshly burned slopes are erosion-prone and riding them wet or early does real damage. Expect more exposure and changed sightlines where the canopy’s gone, and respect closures even when a trail ‘looks’ fine.