You’re allowed to hike the Cal Poly P again — but you still might want to wait

The Cal Poly P trail area was reopened Monday morning to the public after months of closure due to repairs on the eroded and unstable hillside.

The university shut down hiking trails and the hillside to public access in mid-summer to stabilize the area behind Fremont Hall that was disrupted by a mudslide last February.

The improvement work required use of heavy equipment in the early stages and then work crews kept people away to allow planted grass to grow before any trampling, said Jude Fledderman, Cal Poly’s director of facilities operations.

“We’ve have just enough rain this year for the planted grass to get started,” Fledderman said.

The reopening came on a rainy day, however, and Fledderman warned that “it will be muddy up there for quite a while.”

“I just want to remind everyone to exercise safety with current weather conditions and soil conditions,” Fledderman said. “The footing can be dangerous.”

Cal Poly also will monitor the area that’s adjacent to the hillside burned by a 97-acre brush fire in September.

“With the rain, we’ll monitor any debris flows,” Fledderman said.

This story was originally published January 8, 2018 at 2:35 PM with the headline "You’re allowed to hike the Cal Poly P again — but you still might want to wait."