All Trails has two map search options: one for “curated” and one for “all”. The “all” is unfortunately every trail every person inadvertently made public without their knowledge—like when they were counting their miles walking to the corner store or their route around the city. It’s a mess.
But “curated” doesn’t give you all the trails. It gives you only what the app *thinks* you should see. So, this means, you miss some trails. For years.
Luckily, something changed in the alltrails algorithm as of late, and I was able to see Dunsmore Canyon this time. The wilderness park on the other side of the Verdugo Mountains from us looked promising.
We’re more evening hikers than morning hikers, so we set out an hour before sunset so we could see watch the sun dip below the Verdugos—something impossible to do from the west side of the range where we live.
The parking lot was spacious with an old stone building and concrete steps. If it wasn’t for these items, we would have felt completely far from civilization.
But “curated” doesn’t give you all the trails. It gives you only what the app *thinks* you should see. So, this means, you miss some trails. For years.
Luckily, something changed in the alltrails algorithm as of late, and I was able to see Dunsmore Canyon this time. The wilderness park on the other side of the Verdugo Mountains from us looked promising.
We’re more evening hikers than morning hikers, so we set out an hour before sunset so we could see watch the sun dip below the Verdugos—something impossible to do from the west side of the range where we live.
The parking lot was spacious with an old stone building and concrete steps. If it wasn’t for these items, we would have felt completely far from civilization.
But it didn’t take long to leave them in the dust and start into the wilds.
The dirt trails were well-packed and with meadows on either side rising up to the hilltops, it was bliss to be far from society.
The trail got a little rocky.
So it probably wasn’t too comfortable for Tucker, but he made do.
And the sturdy benches were a nice touch along the way.
We could hear the stream for most of our walk, but it took some time for the winding trail to lead us to its shore. There we found it was more than a trickle, but by no means a raging river.
The return trip reminded us that other people existed, albeit far away between the hills.
And, with the sun low in the sky, we were able to catch a glimpse of the setting sun in all its glory.
As we came down the trail, following the sound of water sliding and crashing against rocks, I thought we'd finally see the raging river. But in the wide open silence of the hills, the water's sound belied its volume.
I wish Alltrails had showed me this place sooner. There are a few different trails, and with a variety of canyon meadow, steep hillside walk and shaded forest paths along the creeks, it’s definitely worth a return visit.
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