Cal Poly announced Jan. 8 that the hiking trails, staging area and hillside adjacent to the Cal Poly “P” have been reopened to the public.
The area was closed off for months due to hillside restoration after last year’s mudslide above Fremont Hall. The Fremont Hillside Winterization Repair Project installed equipment to help fix both subsurface and surface drainage.
“Following both the Wildland Fire which occurred in late September and the Project Repair work, the area was hydro-seeded with a campus-approved seed mix to initiate new growth to prevent further damaging soil erosion during winter rains,” Director of Facilities Operations Jude Fledderman said.
Fledderman said until the seed had germinated by winter rains, foot traffic would ruin growth. The delay in winter rain this season postponed the opening of the ‘P’ for eight weeks, but as of last week, the hillside is finally visibly green.
This repair project was intended to provide adequate drainage and surface improvements to the hillside to prevent further erosion and mudslides to the degree present last year. Additional long term improvements to provide even more stabilization are still being evaluated.
With the rainy season approaching, Fledderman warned that even though trails are open, they may be dangerous.
“Trail avoidance or at least extreme caution should always be considered for all of the campus hillside trails for a few days following significant rain events,” Fledderman said.