Ridgeline Corridor

Mandeville Canyon is alive with outdoor lovers of all varieties. Hikers, mountain bikers, dogs and runners infuse its trails with energy from dawn to dusk. The Palisades Fire threatened that energy when it swept through the area in January 2025 – but it never extinguished it. Its trails have reopened, and signs of renewal are everywhere. Green shoots curl around blackened tree branches. Laurel sumac and California buckwheat are surfacing amid the carpets of dry non-native grasses. Nature is fighting back and winning, gently and cautiously.

High above Mandeville Canyon fire road, accessible via a short, steep hike, sits a bench from which one can survey the recovery and joyous return of recreation to the canyon. 

Some mornings, the cool marine layer adds a note of tranquility and the feeling of being on top of the world. Clear and sunny days, meanwhile, yield sweeping views of the Santa Monica Mountains and downtown Los Angeles –  distant, vivid, full of promise. [August 2025]

The Palisades fire in January 2025 raged uncontrollably through the Pacific Palisades and portions of the Santa Monica Mountains, including Mandeville Canyon in Westridge-Canyonback Wilderness Park. In the weeks after containment, officials asked hikers and cyclists to avoid the area while power lines were restored and Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority rangers and restoration specialists assessed weakened trees, loose rocks and other potential hazards. Six months later, the popular recreation hub reopened and serves as a fascinating lesson in wildfire recovery. Carpets of dried non-native grasses give way to clusters of California buckwheat – a welcoming post-fire plant that provides erosion control and attracts butterflies and insects. The vines of native coast morning glory (a fire follower also known as island false bindweed) curl around blackened tree branches, its delicate white petals visible throughout the fire-scarred landscape. On a late summer visit, Cuscuta californica, also known as dodder, latched its tangled orange web onto coastal sage scrub and added random bursts of color along the trails. The native parasitic plant extracts nutrients from its host plants but rarely kills them. Nature continues to heal itself with time. (August 2025)