Newton Canyon and the Backbone Trail
![Newton Canyon and the Backbone Trail](https://www.simitrailblazers.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_2112-300x225.jpg)
7 MRT – Moderate (1,500′ elevation gain/loss)
Meet at 8 AM near Donut Delite at the corner of Madera and Royal. Bring 2 to 3 quarts of water, lunch and sunscreen. Wear boots.
NOTE: The Woolsey Fire (11/2018) severely burned Newton Canyon and that section of the Backbone Trail. Therefore the parts of the following description that refer to “heavily forested” and “shady” almost certainly no longer apply.
This hike begins at the point that the Backbone Trail crosses Kanan-Dume Road. The pleasant, heavily forested, and mostly shady Newton Canyon trail winds eastward to Latigo Canyon Road. It starts uphill so that it can cross Tunnel #1 on Kanan-Dume Road; it gradually descends into Newton Canyon and then rises via a series of switchbacks to Latigo Canyon Road. Our hike will then cross the road as the trail again descends into the shady canyon; the turnaround point will be where the trail begins rising steeply in the direct sunlight toward the north end of Corral Canyon Road.