Alzada Preserve protects 20.48 acres along the Altadena foothills, just east of Chaney Trail and adjacent to Angeles National Forest land. The property contains a diverse mosaic of coast live oak woodland, chaparral, coastal sage scrub, meadowland, and riparian habitat, along with a seasonal stream and mature tree canopy.

The lower canyon and several side drainages support mature coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia) woodland, with California sycamore (Platanus racemosa), scrub oak (Quercus berberidifolia), blue elderberry (Sambucus mexicana), and other native trees and shrubs. Mule fat (Baccharis salicifolia) and other riparian vegetation occur along the seasonal washes. The surrounding slopes support a mixture of chaparral and coastal sage scrub, including California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), California sagebrush (Artemisia californica), black sage (Salvia mellifera), laurel sumac (Malosma laurina), and deerweed (Acmispon glaber).

One particularly valuable feature is an open meadow surrounded by oak and sycamore woodland. This provides grazing habitat for mule deer while also creating open hunting ground for birds of prey. Great horned owls and red-shouldered hawks have been documented nesting on the property, and the combination of meadow, woodland, shrubland, and seasonal riparian habitat creates a varied landscape for wildlife. Wildlife cameras have also documented mountain lions, black bears, bobcats,  and coyotes.

We also recently documented woollypod milkweed (Asclepias eriocarpa) on the property, an important native milkweed that provides habitat for monarch butterflies and other pollinators.

Wildlife Connectivity
Alzada Preserve is important not only for the habitat within its boundaries, but also for its position within the larger Altadena foothill wildlife corridor. The property helps maintain east-west movement along the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, connecting open lands around Chaney Trail and the western Altadena foothills with habitat farther east. It also contributes to broader connectivity with Millard Canyon and routes leading north into the San Gabriel Mountains.

Protecting these foothill parcels is especially important in Altadena, where development increasingly fragments the remaining open space. Keeping Alzada undeveloped preserves another piece of the landscape that wildlife can use for feeding, resting, breeding, refuge, and moving between other areas of habitat.

Fire Recovery & Stewardship
The entire property was affected by the January 2025 Eaton Fire, followed by winter storms and debris movement that reshaped portions of the seasonal stream and slopes. Despite those impacts, the Preserve is showing strong signs of natural recovery. Many of the mature oaks survived and are resprouting, and native chaparral and coastal sage scrub species are returning across the slopes.

Deerweed is now abundant in several burned areas. As a native legume and early-successional species, it is helping recolonize disturbed ground while other native shrubs such as black sage and California sagebrush reestablish.