The Backbone Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains Welcomes Back Hikers

A 67-mile trail in the Santa Monica Mountain ravaged by the Woolsey Fire has fully reopened. The last six miles of the Backbone Trail are now open to hikers eight months after the wildfire blasted the region.

According to the Los Angeles Times, “The Backbone Trail was completed in 2016 after a 40-year effort to acquire a tract of land that traverses one of Southern California’s largest undeveloped areas. The trail stretches from Point Mugu State Park to Will Rogers State Historic Park and was established with public funding and private donations from the likes of former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and fitness pioneer Betty Weider.

“The Backbone Trail is important because it puts the Santa Monica Mountains on the map,” Ron Webster, one of the trail builders, said in 2016. “We may not have the biggest waterfalls or the biggest trees, but we do have the biggest ocean.”

You can read more about the trail and other rebuilding projects here.