History of the CHWP and Master Plan

The hills of Claremont have a long history of providing open space for outdoor activities. Dating as far back as the 1800s, college students were known to hike in the foothills of present-day Claremont. From 1900 to 1950, the 180-acre area known as Johnson’s Pasture belonged to the Johnson family, who used the area primarily for picnicking, hiking, and planting trees, shrubs, and wildflowers with family and friends. The hillsides were reserved for agriculture and irrigation, as well as recreation. Gale Ranch was used to raise goats for mohair.

The Claremont Hills Wilderness Park opened in 1996 with 1,440 acres and was dedicated as a City Nature Park in 1997. The 2008 incorporation of Johnson's Pasture increased the park to 1,620 acres. Park boundaries include Marshall Canyon to the West, Angeles National Forest to the North, and San Bernardino County line to the East. Park elevation varies from 1,800 to 3,000 feet.

Since 1996, the City of Claremont, in cooperation with several non-profit organizations, has been purchasing and conveying hillside properties for permanent open space protection along the lower foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. These properties, now under ownership of the City of Claremont, are collectively known and managed as the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park.

The Claremont Hills Wilderness Park Management Plan was created to provide general guidelines concerning park management for City officials with the goal of preserving the natural characteristics of the park while providing visitors the opportunity for passive and recreational enjoyment of the park.

CHWP Master Plan

The City contracted with a consultant to work with staff and the community to prepare a comprehensive master plan for the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park (CHWP). The master plan updated the former management plan for the City-owned hillside wilderness area and incorporate the various documents and agreements that guide the operation and maintenance of the almost 2,000-acre preserve. The goal was to create a unified vision for the CHWP that balances environmental conservation with passive trail use.

The Final CHWP Master Plan has two components: the Master Plan and an Implementation Plan. The Master Plan summarizes the existing conditions of the Wilderness Park, details the current usage of the park, and outlines a plan for balancing the preservation of the area with recreational use. The Implementation Plan is an action plan for the operation and management of the park. The Implementation Plan also contains recommendations for management of the parking lots and surrounding streets.

Master Plan - FINAL(PDF, 3MB)

Implementation Plan - FINAL(PDF, 14MB)

Wilderness Park Ad-Hoc Committee

The Claremont Hills Master Plan process included opportunities for the community to learn about the process and provide input into the Master Plan. The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) provided additional opportunities to ensure that a variety of perspectives were represented in the planning process.

Composition

The TAC was an ad-hoc committee appointed by the City Council based on input from interested community members. The Committee was comprised of 11 community members representing the diversity of the community including local neighborhoods, the community at large, conservation groups, recreation and open space users, and the existing civic structure.

The following groups were represented on the TAC:

Members at-large (2) Carolyn Gonzales & Hugh Wire
Neighborhood representatives (2) Bobby Gomez & Charlie Gale
Claremont Wildlands Conservancy Terry Gill (Dean McHenry alternate)
Claremont Hills Conservation Corporation Richard Weiner (Don Pattison alternate)
Community and Human Services Commissioner Chair Butch Henderson
Planning Commissioner Chair Cynthia Humes
Claraboya HOA Representative Steven Llanusa
High Point HOA Representative Gail Sparks
Padua Hills Community Association Gary Mizumoto

Committee Purpose

The primary purpose of the TAC was to provide feedback into the public engagement process and input on specific issue areas that will inform the Claremont Hills Master Plan.

Committee Charge

The TAC was charged with reviewing and commenting on technical data presented by the project team. Over four meetings, the project team was presented information on topic areas related to the Master Plan such as parking, resource protection, signage, safety, etc. To ensure maximum participation by the community, the TAC also reviewed proposed outreach activities and provided feedback on methods and activities that require volunteer hours. At the end of the process, the TAC worked towards consensus on elements of a preferred conceptual site plan and made its recommendation to the City Council. The TAC was charged with the following:

Providing the Claremont Hills Master Plan Project Team with input into the final draft Master Plan.
Encouraging a representative and broad base of citizen participation both within and beyond the TAC.
Providing a vehicle to incorporate and respond to public input during the Claremont Hills Master Plan process.
Supporting the Claremont Hills Master Plan Project Team in educating and communicating information about the Claremont Hills Master Plan process to the broader community.
Promoting constructive dialogue in an environment of trust, credibility and mutual respect for the community outreach process and for the planning process.
Striving to understand and reconcile competing interests and objectives.

Process

The consultant team managed each of the four TAC meetings. To provide additional opportunity for the community to provide feedback into the Master Plan process, each meeting included an opportunity for public comment. The consultant team facilitated the public comment portion of the meetings as well as lead the TAC's discussion on the agenda topics presented by the project team. Comments were recorded, and a summary of key topics discussed by the TAC were prepared by the consultant team. The summaries were made available to the TAC one week following each TAC meeting.

Visitor Intercept Survey Results

As part of the development of the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park (CHWP) Master Plan in 2014, the City of Claremont and its consultant, MIG, conducted an intercept-style survey of visitors as part of a larger outreach effort to gain insight into the use of the park. The data from this survey was utilized to guide the planning process by better understanding the needs and desires of visitors and residents alike. In 2023, the City of Claremont, Friends of the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park, and the Claremont Wildlands Conservancy came together to understand the needs of today’s stakeholders.

A survey committee, comprised of members from the organizations listed above, was created to review and revise the 2014 MIG-designed survey so that it addressed current operating conditions of the CHWP, as there have been several changes since the Master Plan was implemented. The finalized questionnaire was provided to visitors on a clipboard and featured an English version on one side and a Spanish version on the opposite side. 93.5% of visitors answered the English version, while 6.5% of visitors answered the Spanish version. A total of 1,453 surveys were collected during thirteen various two-hour time blocks.

2023 Visitor Intercept Survey Results(PDF, 2MB)