As wild animals return to Eaton Canyon’s landscape of freshly covered green slopes and yellow mustard-plant polka dots, the popular nature park badly damaged by the Eaton fire won’t be accepting people during the next two summers and beyond, county officials announced Thursday.

The 198-acre Eaton Canyon Natural Area Park in northeastern Pasadena — adjacent to Altadena — has been closed since the Jan. 7 Eaton fire torched the entire park and most likely will remain closed through Dec. 31, 2026, said Norma Garcia-Gonzalez, director of the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation.

“In January, we experienced devastating fires that burned over 200 acres of the Eaton Canyon Natural Area, but we also had subsequent flooding with devastating impacts: Our trees burned and also our trails were washed out. It is not safe for the public to be here,” she said during a press briefing held at the entrance to Midwick Connector Trailhead off Altadena Drive.

The closure, which was initially supposed to last only a half year, was increased to more than 1 1/2 years by the county on Thursday but that could be modified, officials said. Nonetheless, this may cut off visits for two summers to close-in natural habitat in a county park that experienced 1 million visitors last year.

Also closed are three miles of trails inside the park, including the easy, mostly flat trail leading to the Eaton Canyon Waterfall used by families with children and often accompanied by dogs. The natural park was always extremely busy in summer, with the main parking lot and overflow lot filling up early.

In addition, the U.S. Forest Service announced about 20 miles of connecting trails leading from the park and the other parts of the canyon will be closed until Dec. 31, 2026.

The flames burned the grasses and chaparral that held together the trail that leads to the Angeles National Forest and the most easily accessible waterfall in the San Gabriel Valley. Rain storms in February and March caused mudslides, taking out trees and wiping away trails that look as if they never existed, officials said.

It took about 90 minutes for the Eaton fire to sweep through the rustic canyon on the evening of Jan. 7. The winds, moving at 62 mph, pushed flames into the rugged canyon and then westerly, where the Eaton fire, named for the canyon where it started, destroyed 9,414 structures, most of Altadena, and taking 17 lives.

The fire quickly burned to the ground the Eaton Canyon Nature Center, a building that housed nature displays, live animals, books, artwork and gift items. All was lost except for two desert tortoises who were hibernating in a county worker’s garage in Azusa. They are now living in the San Dimas Canyon Park.

Garcia-Gonzalez spoke about the carpet of green sweeping over the denuded canyon slopes. She also mentioned spotting coyotes and deer returning to the canyon. But the county wants to let the canyon resurrect itself, without visitors trampling and impeding Mother Nature’s progress.

“The flooding has added another layer of concern with debris movement and sediment,” said Karen Mateer, vice president of the Eaton Canyon Nature Center Associates. “Sycamores, coastal sage scrub were swept away,” she said, making slopes unstable and hiking treacherous.

“The fire and flooding destroyed a lot of the root systems so all it takes is one wrong step and it will sluff away and unfortunately, you might be going with it,” Mateer said. “We need to let the canyon have time to establish ground cover and for new growth to become more resilient. We need to let Eaton Canyon have time to heal.”

Steep slopes and crumbling terrain are characteristics of the San Gabriel Mountains, which surround the passive park. “These are the steepest mountain ranges in the country. If you do fall you are likely to suffer serious consequences,” said Justin Seastrand, natural resource specialist with the U.S. Forest Service.

“We’ve had people pass away from falling hundreds of feet,” said Reserve Deputy Daniel Paige, operations officer with the Altadena Mountain Rescue Team. He said an experienced hiker recently had trouble finding his way back down from Echo Mountain in the Angeles, above Pasadena, because missing trees and damaged trails looked unfamiliar.

“We have unstable slopes and loose soils. We have falling rocks and trees. We don’t want people to hurt themselves and be unsafe,” said Garcia-Gonzalez, talking about the conditions inside the park.

Seastrand said during forest trail closures, there will always be trespassers. “We do have officers out on regular patrols and they can give them a warning or a federal violation,” he said. Garcia-Gonzalez said the county has spotted people in the park illegally. “We’ve seen people jump the fence and ignore the signage,” she said.

Violators caught entering closed areas, sites, the county park or the closed trails in the Angeles National Forest are subject to fines. For violating closures on county and national forest lands, the fine is up to $5,000 for an individual, or $10,000 for an organization.

Instead, county and federal officials urge Southern California residents to explore the open trails and open picnic areas. In the Angeles, open areas include: Chantry Flat, north of Arcadia; Switzer Picnic Area and waterfalls, and the Gabrielino Trail near the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

To find county hiking trails, go to: trails.lacounty.gov. Hikers can download the county app, Trails LA County. For the Angeles National Forest, go to www.fs.usda.gov and look under the Angeles National Forest.