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Coal Canyon LbNA #45752

Owner:KatPau
Plant date:Feb 21, 2009
Location:
City:Yorba Linda
County:Orange
State:California
Boxes:1
Found by: Martini Man
Last found:Apr 15, 2019
Status:FFF
Last edited:Feb 21, 2009
Coal Canyon Letterbox
Distance: 5.4 miles RT Out and Back
Difficulty: Moderate because of Distance
Season: November thru April, or after a good rain
Type: Hike
Location: Yorba Linda
Just off of the 91 (Riverside) Fwy, just before Corona in the Santa Ana Canyon, Near the Green River Golf Course

Info:
For at least 30 years the Coal Canyon interchange on the Riverside Freeway through Santa Ana Canyon was useless, featuring ramps going nowhere. This could have changed if housing had been put in, but biologists discovered that the Coal Canyon under-crossing was the one and only practical wildlife corridor between 40,000 acres of open lands in the Chino and Puente Hills to the north and half a million acres of wild land in the Santa Ana Mountains to the south. Many animals were using it to avoid being squashed trying to cross the many lanes of freeway. The freeway ramps were closed in 2003. Originally owned privately, the canyon is now under the jurisdiction of Chino Hills State Park and California's Department of Fish and Game.
Warnings:
There is some poison oak in the last section before the waterfall so make sure you know what it looks like and avoid it. Also be cautious because there are rattlesnakes and mountain lions in the area as well.
Before you set out, please read the waiver of responsibility and disclaimer.

How to Get There:
Exit the Riverside Freeway (Hwy 91) at Green River Road in Corona and turn West. After 1 mile, park on the right side of Green River Road at a point 0.2 miles short of the entrance to the Green River Golf Club. You’ll see all the cars parked there, mostly for the Santa Ana River Bike trail.

Clues:
From the parking area walk 0.2 miles west along the Green River Road toward the golf course entrance, and continue for another 1 mile along the paved Santa Ana River bike trail, enduring the freeway traffic noise for the next 10 to 15 minutes. When you reach the Coal Canyon crossing after 1.2 miles, check out the information kiosk on the right side before walking underneath the overpasses to your left. Sometimes you can see swallows flying in and out of some of the overpass openings. Continue south into Chino Hills State Park territory (A sign states that no bikes or dogs are allowed). Just past the second gate (after the overpasses) Follow the dirt road to your left , staying out of the canyon's sand-and-gravel-coated stream bed for the time being. At the next road split, take the right fork, signed as Big Mo Trail. Follow this past an old piece of rusted machinery on your left, to the end of the dirt road at the Ecological Preserve Boundary. (Note: The above section could be navigated with a mountain bike, but no bikes are allowed in the Preserve, so you would need to complete the rest of the trail on foot.) From here look for the faint trail behind the boundary sign and follow it up beside the creek bed, eventually dropping into the dry streambed after about a mile of hiking. Continue up the main streambed to the end of the canyon at the falls, about another ½ mile where the canyon walls rise up and close in and a grotto is formed. The falls is a 20-foot high ribbon of water pouring off of a spout formed by a mineralized outcrop if there has been enough rain. If you look around you can see other mineralized drops forming on the walls nearby. Enjoy the falls, then return the way you came. About ½ way back down from the reserve sign you will come upon a very large oak tree with ½ of its roots hanging into the dry streambed. Behind the tree, up on the bank you will see a large grouping of rocks. The letterbox is hidden in these rocks. Please re-hide the box and if there are any problems with the letterbox please let us know.
Continue back to you car the way you came in.
advtrvlr2001@yahoo.com
Enjoy... KatPau