Posted: November 29th, 2005

The public won an important public access issue when the Court in Save the Altadena Trails, et. al. v. Michael Cichy re-established the public’s right to travel over the portion of the historic El Prieto Fire Road that runs across private property to visit the Owen Brown grave site. The Court stated that it was “clear that there is a long-standing historic interest on the part of the public in the road and in the grave site and that there has been continuous public access to these locations since the 19th Century.”

Owen Brown, son of abolitionist John Brown, moved to Altadena after surviving his father’s raid on a government arsenal at Harper’s Ferry in Virginia in 1859. He was buried on a peak overlooking Millard Canyon. The Center, together with the private firms of Reed Smith and English Munger & Rice, have filed a complaint to preserve public access to the trails in historic Millard Canyon that begins in the Angeles National Forest and ends at the Arroyo Seco in Altadena. Property owners in the gated La Viña enclave have sought to cut off public access to the trails by posting “No Trespassing” signs and harassing hikers and equestrians. Preservation of public access to the trails in Millard Canyon is needed so the public can reach cultural monuments like the Owen Brown grave site, to preserve public health through recreation, and promote spiritual and environmental values of stewardship of the earth.