There is some heavy equipment and personal property at the beginning of the hike which need to be avoided but once you get past that, the hike is very enjoyable. With many switchbacks and valley views this one really is quite enjoyable.
Distance (RT): 3.14 miles RT
Time: 2-3 hours
Start: End of Deep Forest Circle
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation Gain: 1019 ft
Fee: Free
Park at the end of street (do not block any driveways). Start the hike by taking the road that leads straight up the road past the large construction equipment (they appear to be building a pretty large house).
The shortcut road to the right goes through public property, so do be a good neighbor take the slightly longer route mentioned above.
After reaching the top of the road, turn right and then look for the path (another right turn). I missed it and had to go through another construction area. There is a nice sign with map, plant identification, and more.
They also have several Public Switchback Access signs to point you the right way.
After a few switchbacks, you may see the remains of a fire that burnt the area in 2018. Woodland Hills is a beautiful place but I don’t know that I would ever want to live there because of the distance from the freeway and for the fear of fires. A plaque gives a brief history of this last burn.
As you can see we hiked in snow that was generally 4-8 inches deep. My mostly waterproof boots and snow gators came in really handy today.
It looked like a winter wonderland, which for mid March was pretty fun to see. It’s been a warm and mild winter so far and we’ve had very few big snowstorms, today it happened to be snowing and it left a few inches of fresh powder on everything.
It is previous obvious, an avalanche has come through this area. Since I don’t yet carry an avalanche beacon on my hikes, I was being as careful as I could. I took the headphones out so I could hear everything, tried not to make any noise, and walked quickly around this area.
It was really nice that the city had these signs put in to identify 17 different plants. Since none of the trees really had leaves, I didn’t bother trying to learn any of the trees, but will definitely do this another time.
The end was a ridge and lookout, but as you can see there was plenty of mountain left behind me.
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