The Forest Service closed the Sapphire Falls Hike like I thought they would. The conditions in the canyon definitely warranted it. They're calling it "Fire Prevention", but if that were the whole truth, why wouldn't they close all of the trails in Riverside County and not just a 1,000 acres above Rancho Cucamonga? I'm 100 percent sure the decision has as much to do with the problems with graffiti, property damage, drug use, trespassing, public defecation, vandalism, accumulating trash and the large crowds creating an unsafe condition in the canyon. Someone from the Forest Service must have hiked in to Sapphire Falls on a weekend and seen it for themselves. I have no clue when they expect to open the canyon. Someone posted a comment to my blog that said the penalty for hiking into the canyon during the closure is $5,000. Ouch!
More info here: http://www.dailybulletin.com/general-news/20130822/us-forest-service-to-close-cucamonga-canyon
