The Lost Valley Trail had something of a reputation in the old days. Evelyn (“Ma”) Smith, who ran the riding stables at Warner Hot Springs for many years, recalled being on the Lost Valley Trail in the 1940s: “It was an awful hard place to get in in the early days when they went in with the cattle. It was nothing but boulders, you didn’t see any dirt. I went over the trail. I said, ‘Never again!’ I just held my breath ... I couldn’t hardly get through on a horse.”

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