Santa Anita Canyon Road Almost Ready : Repairs: Work on the 3 1/2-mile stretch to Chantry Flats damaged by landslides may finish this week, allowing the road to reopen for traffic.

The road providing access to one of the Angeles National Forest’s most popular hiking areas, closed since earthquake-related landslides in June, may reopen as early as this week, U.S. Forest Service officials said.

Santa Anita Canyon Road, which winds through the mountains north of Sierra Madre and Arcadia, was officially closed to most traffic immediately after the June 28 Sierra Madre earthquake.

Since then, workers from the U.S. Forest Service and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works have been removing landslides, making repairs and conducting safety inspections, said Terry Ellis, district ranger of the Angeles National Forest’s Arroyo Seco District.

Depending on the pace of the work, Santa Anita Canyon Road could reopen as early as this week or, at the latest, in mid-September, Ellis said.

Major landslides in seven separate locations covered at least one lane of the narrow, two-lane road in the San Gabriel Mountains, Ellis said. Landslides were a threat at six other spots, and the roadbed was damaged in three locations, he said.

The 3 1/2-mile road, with vista points of the San Gabriel Valley, leads to Chantry Flats, which has picnic areas and is a crossroads of hiking trails. One popular hiking destination is Santa Anita Canyon, home of Sturtevant Falls. In addition, 83 cabins are nestled in the canyon.

Normally, the Forest Service records a daily average of 200 to 300 visitors to Chantry Flats, Ellis said. As many as 1,000 visitors come on some weekend days.

The road’s closure has not posed any significant problems for those who own cabins in the canyon, said one owner, Glen Owens, president of the Big Santa Anita Historical Society.

The cabin owners have had access to the road, though it has been limited by the ongoing work, he said.

Besides forcing the road closure, the quake sent debris raining down on forest hiking trails, Ellis said.

Since late June, he said, Forest Service workers and volunteers have cleared trails throughout the region known as the “front country,” on the south side of the mountains.

“We’ve got all the trails where they are passable,” Ellis said. The work, he said, is about 75% completed on 15 trails, including two of the worst hit, Castle Canyon Trail, by Millard Canyon north of Altadena, and the Rim Trail by Mt. Wilson.