One Warning, Three Rulebooks: How Red Flag Days Now Work on Brentwood's Canyon Trails

At 6 a.m. on Thursday, October 15, the Los Angeles Fire Department put its Red Flag parking restrictions into effect, and cars left on posted hillside streets became subject to towing. The same morning, the trails off the top of Westridge Road were closed. The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority had already announced that Westridge-Canyonback Wilderness Park would stay closed through Saturday, October 17. To the west, Will Rogers State Historic Park was shut along with Topanga and four other state parks, as Santa Monica Wave reported that day.

Three different authorities made those three decisions, each using its own rules. A Brentwood hiker, dog walker or trail runner is under whichever set of rules belongs to the agency that manages the trailhead they head for, and in the canyons above Sunset those agencies can change from one ridge to the next.

The pact that closed Westridge for three days

This fall's closures came from a new agreement. California State Parks, the National Park Service, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority signed a coordinated red flag closure protocol dated March 12, 2026. They first used it this season, starting October 15, according to the State Parks announcement issued the day before. KCLU reported that this was the first time the plan had been used.

The protocol is triggered by official forecasts from the National Weather Service Los Angeles/Oxnard office. When that office issues a red flag warning, the superintendents and directors of the four agencies decide each day which sites to close, depending on how much of the mountains the forecast covers. The agencies aim to announce closures the day before. If a warning covers only part of a day, the closure lasts the whole day.

Jody Lyle, superintendent of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, described the reasoning in the State Parks release: "The Santa Monica Mountains are one landscape, even though they are managed by several different agencies."

Two Brentwood-area properties are on the protocol's list of sites that may close. One is Westridge-Canyonback Wilderness Park, the MRCA land of more than 1,500 acres that you reach from the end of Westridge Road. The other is Will Rogers State Historic Park. Temescal Canyon Park and the Backbone Trail are also listed.

On a closure day, the protocol closes trails, backcountry areas, visitor centers, NPS parking lots, school field trips, volunteer events and programs. Roads stay open unless they are behind a locked gate, and so do developed State Parks lots, roadside overlooks without closure signs, and campgrounds. The agencies also say that not every closed area will be signed or gated. An open gate at the top of Westridge on a warning day does not mean the trail is open.

One ridge over, the city's parks run on different rules

Several of the canyon parks closest to Brentwood homes are City of Los Angeles properties. The city is not one of the four agencies that signed the protocol.

City Recreation and Parks lists Sullivan Canyon Park as a city facility with a hiking trail. It lists Mandeville Canyon Park at 2660 N. Westridge Road, with mountain biking among its features. Mandeville Canyon Park shares a street with the Westridge-Canyonback trailhead, but a different agency makes its closure decisions. Crestwood Hills Park, a city park and also not on the protocol's list, is marked "Now Open" on the city's park closure updates page.

The city has been working on its own approach. In a November 10, 2025 letter to the Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners, the Griffith Park Advisory Board said Recreation and Parks executives were developing a park closure policy for extreme wildfire events. The State Parks, NPS or MRCA pages will not tell you whether Sullivan or Mandeville is open on a given day. You need the city's own closure page for that.

The red flag that tows cars

The third system governs where you can leave your car. LAFD's Red Flag Parking Restrictions Program has run since January 1, 2006. On a declared Red Flag Day, parking is prohibited on posted segments within the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones, and illegally parked vehicles are towed. The Department of Transportation has installed more than 1,700 signs marking those segments. Fire station commanders chose the segments by surveying their districts for narrow roads, tight curves and intersections that could become choke points during an evacuation.

This program uses a different trigger from the park protocol. LAFD declares a Red Flag Day when winds reach 25 mph or more and humidity falls to 15% or less. The department says on its own site that a "Red Flag Warning" heard on radio or TV is broadcast to a wider area and may not mean the city's parking restrictions are in force. A National Weather Service warning can close Westridge-Canyonback while parking stays legal, and the reverse can also happen.

LAFD puts the average at four to seven Red Flag Days a year, with a maximum of 12 in recent years. On a declared day, every fire station flies a red flag. Residents can also sign up for text, phone or email alerts through LAFD's Red Flag notification system. The system moved to a new platform in July 2025. Subscribers who don't need to change their contact details don't have to do anything.

Will Rogers, a year into its reopening

The protocol matters most at Will Rogers, where much of the park is still closed. The park reopened with limited access in November 2025, after 10 months of closure following the Palisades Fire. It is open daily from 8 a.m. to sunset, and parking is limited. The current closure notices for the park list these restrictions:

• The West Inspiration Loop trail and road have been closed for ongoing work since January 29, 2026.
• Lower Betty Rogers Trail, at the front of the park, is closed at the road and at the footbridge by the steps.
• The loop road is closed just west of the Inspiration Point access road, but Bone Canyon Road and Inspiration Point remain accessible.

You can also reach the park on foot from the south. MRCA's update this summer says hikers can take the rebuilt Rivas Trail from Temescal Gateway Park to two overlooks or continue on to Will Rogers. That route crosses from MRCA land into state park land, and both agencies signed the protocol. On October 15 the MRCA closure list included Temescal Gateway Park, so the route was closed at both ends. Before the protocol, the two agencies could reach different decisions on the same day. Now one warning closes the whole route.

A morning check before the trailhead

The protocol stays in effect until the four agencies amend or cancel it. On a dry, windy morning, it takes a few minutes to find out which rules apply to the trail you have in mind:

1. Check the National Weather Service Los Angeles/Oxnard fire weather forecast. A red flag warning there is what starts closures for State Parks, NPS and MRCA lands.
2. For Westridge-Canyonback or Temescal Gateway, check the MRCA press page, where closure lists are posted by date.
3. For Will Rogers, check California State Parks' Angeles District notices. The protocol page on the NPS site lists every site that may close.
4. For Sullivan Canyon, Mandeville Canyon or Crestwood Hills, check the city's park closure updates.
5. Before you park on a canyon street, check lafd.org/redflag. The status is posted at the top of the page, and the restricted-parking map is linked below it.

The Red Flag parking rules and towing are set by LAFD and the City of Los Angeles. This post is general information, not legal advice. Check the posted signs and the agency's current notice for your street.

At Team Pinckert, we pay attention to how daily routines in the canyons work, including which street signs matter on a windy morning. If you own a home near Westridge, Mandeville or Sullivan Canyon and are thinking about selling, we can show buyers how the neighborhood actually works as part of the story we tell about your home. When you're ready, we're here to help you list your home.