This weekend we went exploring in the Puente Hills Habitat Preservation Authority‘s Powder Canyon Preserve. While it was a fantastic hike, we were really quite disturbed by the number of illegal (also called social or volunteer) trails that had popped up.
The Preserves and our natural lands were inherited with specific trails. Only through careful planning, design and maintenance are trails added in the right locations. When individuals on foot, bike or horse, create new trails—the ecosystem suffers. A few of the impacts include: the habitat is stomped down, invasive plants move in, erosion occurs, and many other detrimental activities. The more a social trail is used the wider it gets, the less vegetation it has, the more impacts it creates for the land manager to resolve.
Please, ONLY use designated trails. The reasons these lands are protected will be gone if we can’t learn to co-exist with nature.
How do you know if it is a designated trail? Use an official map (See the comment section below for maps to the Habitat Authority lands and Chino Hills State Park). Another easy reference is … if the trail has a sign it is legal. If not, it is likely illegal.
View the photos on our Facebook page.