Hurkey Creek/ Idyllwild Burn Report

[mtbMike]

So I drove out to check out the damage from the latest Idyllwild Fire. Hurkey Creek is toast. Much worse than the last fire in 2015. I’m not sure there is anything that didn’t burn this time around.

So this is an overview shot taken from the parking lot of the Lake Hemet General Store. You can see the whole mountain face (and Southridge) is toast.

This is looking up to the area where you would finish the Hurkey loop...Tunnel of Love, etc

Two photos of the climb up from the campground

The flowy section from the top of the climb down to May Valley

Looking out into May Valley from the highway. The only thing that didn’t burn was the pet sanctuary.

 

[mtbMike]

I then drove over to Idyllwild itself and saw the fire burned all the way from the Hurkey Creek campground past Mountain Center. Everything but the town there is GONE including everything up 243 for 4 miles. Once close to town, you can see they made a stand on the 243 and along the ridgeline facing South where the 1st line of houses is built. Idyllwild itself, including the Arts Center and Hub Trails appear untouched. Sitting in the center of town, you would have no idea there was ever a fire.

You can see where they made their stand on the ridgeline.

The canyon between Mountain Center and Idyllwild

Stopped on the 243 looking down into Mountain Center

 

[LLPoolJ]

Thanks for the info. Tear falling down my cheek. And a special thanks to the loser that took it away from us again.

 

[SoCal_Rider]

Thanks for the intel. I've been meaning to check it out. Made it as far as Thomas Mtn last weekend, but didn't have time to drive to Hurkey to check things out.

Good to find out the Hub trails appear untouched. Might need to check them out this weekend.

 

[scan]

So sad to see that Glad we were able to ride it @mtbMike several weeks ago.

 

[mtbMike]

So sad to see that Glad we were able to ride it @mtbMike several weeks ago.

For sure...I don’t expect Hurkey Creek to open again before I leave SoCal in 2022. Just one more reason to go ride new places NOW rather than putting it off until next year. Next year the trails just might not be there.

 

[LLPoolJ]

For sure...I don’t expect Hurkey Creek to open again before I leave SoCal in 2022. Just one more reason to go ride new places NOW rather than putting it off until next year. Next year the trails just might not be there.

Words to live by.

Any chance of moving sooner? One less car on the road would be swell.
Hoping to tag along on one of your rides this winter as soon as work settles.

 

[evdog]

Just one more reason to go ride new places NOW rather than putting it off until next year. Next year the trails just might not be there.

Amen to that. Glad I got to ride Hurkey a few times last spring.

And thanks for posting the pics. I went out there last weekend too and took pretty much the same set, but didn't have time to post. Rode Hub trails Saturday evening. There is retardant on the trees there right up to the parking area but I didn't see any actual fire damage. The area south of the parking area is within the closure area so I rode further north. Hoping some of those trees along keen camp climb are still alive - still have needles on them, so maybe.... Gonna be tough for hikers too as the fire burned right up to SOT and Southridge trail.

 

[Sidewalk]

Words to live by.

Any chance of moving sooner? One less car on the road would be swell.
Hoping to tag along on one of your rides this winter as soon as work settles.

We need to start doing more stuff...

 

[LLPoolJ]

We need to start doing more stuff...

Fall is coming

 

[mtbMike]

Any chance of moving sooner? One less car on the road would be swell.

Nope, wife has to do 4 more years to get the "golden handshake" from her employer. We have talked about *me* going a year early and her commuting to Prescott on weekends though. We'll see how that works out.

 

[LLPoolJ]

Nope, wife has to do 4 more years to get the "golden handshake" from her employer. We have talked about *me* going a year early and her commuting to Prescott on weekends though. We'll see how that works out.

May see you there in 5yrs. Our boy goes to school there and is planning on staying.

 

[Sidewalk]

I may see you guys in 26 years!

 

[mtbMike]

May see you there in 5yrs. Our boy goes to school there and is planning on staying.

There's definitely tons of great riding opportunities available there, especially if you enjoy intermediate singletrack in the woods. You can link Boy Scout type trails together for a 30 mile ride with no problem. There is a group there trying to get the Forest Service on board with more gravity oriented trails so hopefully that will come to fruition. In the meantime, Sedona is 67 miles away and Flagstaff (where I've never ridden) is 95 for your gravity fix.

 

[Old Skool]

Anyone have any 2024 trail updates on the Hurkey Creek trail system? I know they took a 1-2 punch pretty hard from the fires a couple of years ago and I have not seen anything current?

 

[dssgaffler]

This is the most recent video I have been able to find for Exfoliator and it's from 2022. As the other trails of Idyllwild get more developed, the Hurkey Creek loop gets more forgotten. I have been flirting with the idea of attempting a resurrection.

 

[Old Skool]

Sad to see the condition of Exfoliator now that trail used to have so much flow, it was sick!
Fires destroyed it and The Hub bike shop shut down and no one left up there to ride these trails enough to keep em ridable.

 

[evdog]

That info is outdated. Most of Hurkey is back open and riding great. Keen camp climb has been re-done. Missing link/rage/tunnel of love have been reopened. And upper trails like tres, Buena Vista, snakeskin etc have all been worked on as well. The trails have not seen a lot of traffic so they are a bit raw. Everything that is on trailforks is open again. The only exception is exfoliator. To my knowledge that is the only trail that has not been worked on.