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Trails are reopening, but caution advised
Los Padres National Forest on Friday will reopen a network of trails closed since July because of the Zaca wildfire.
Forest officials, however, are warning hikers to use extra care, because many of the trails are still badly damaged from the fire and heavy winter rains and snow.
The fire damaged some 167 miles of trails, said Kerry Kellogg, a manager with the U.S. Forest Service.
Some of the hardest-hit include the Santa Cruz trail, and the Grapevine and Potrero trails in the San Rafael Wilderness.
While the trails are being reopened to hikers, they will still be closed to horseback riders.
Volunteers have surveyed much of the burned area but have yet to inspect some areas in the Dick Smith and San Rafael wilderness areas.
The Zaca fire started July 4, 2007. It was not fully contained until Sept. 2.
By that time, it had burned more than 240,000 acres, making it the second largest fire in California's recorded history.
For more information on trail conditions, contact the Forest Service's Santa Barbara District office at 967-3481 or the Santa Maria office at 925-9538.
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