Discover the delicate nature of Northeast LA's Elephant Hill

In about two months, the 110 acres of land that make up Elephant Hill will get something that conservationists and community members have long been waiting for — a hiking trail that has been seven years in the making.

"People will be able to hike easily across the hillside," said Elva Yañez, board president of the nonprofit Save Elephant Hill.

This stretch of seemingly hidden land bordering El Sereno and South Pasadena has been called one of the last and largest natural open spaces in Los Angeles. Old-timers simply call it "the Heavens."

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A conservation battle reached its pinnacle more than a decade ago, when community organizers successfully beat back a proposed development of gated luxury homes. The results meant not just the protection of some 20 acres of land, but the passage of more stringent standards governing home constructions on local hillsides.

Efforts to preserve the hilltop as a community open space have been ongoing, in addition to restoring the land that was once filled with Southern California black walnut trees.

Elephant Hill

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Courtesy Save Elephant Hill

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Courtesy Save Elephant Hill

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" That was dotting the hills, and in between the walnuts would've been California sagebrush, some buckwheat, some toyon, just all those plants that are still around," said Dan Cooper, a conservation biologist who has studied the ecology of Elephant Hill.

A mix of factors have contributed to the land's degradation, including historical neglect and misuse like illegal vehicle off-roading and dumping.

And the fact that the vast majority of those 110 acres are privately owned — more than 200 parcels by Cooper's estimate — doesn't make the holistic management of this land easy.

"So basically it's like a Jekyll and Hyde," Cooper said, referring to how the protected versus private plots have been managed.

Elephant Hill

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Courtesy Save Elephant Hill

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Yañez said her group and others are hoping to secure funding from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to acquire an additional 25 acres for protection and restoration.

To see the future now, she said to look no further than a test plot of garden that has been brought back to its native glory on the eastern side of the hilltop.

That plot is one of the stops of the guided hike on Saturday, between 8 a.m. and noon, on Elephant Hill.

"The idea is really to get the community out and involved with connecting with the land and understanding the current state of the land," said Micah Haserjian, co-founder of the community organization, Coyotl + Macehualli, a partner behind the ongoing series of guided hikes.

Saturday's hike will launch a long-term project that blends personal stories and the history of land use in the area to better understand the evolution of Elephant Hill — to safeguard its future.

We want " 110 acres protected by government agency, the land restored, and public access created — you know, programming, restoration, all that good stuff," Yañez said.