One of Clairemont’s most popular canyon cut-throughs is getting a reputation for all the wrong reasons. Regulars on the Keller Canyon trail say the route that funnels into Marian Bear Memorial Park is choked with dead trees, overgrown brush and scraggly palm clusters that look more like kindling than landscaping. The hiker who first raised the alarm says she has been filing reports through the city’s Get It Done app, only to watch the vegetation grow and the responses, in her view, stall out.
Hiker’s report and complaints
Marie Hartwell, a longtime Clairemont resident who hits the Keller Canyon trail often, told CBS 8 she has submitted three or four maintenance requests through the city’s Get It Done system and has seen little to no visible follow-up. She describes a corridor littered with dead trees, heavy brush, graffiti and trash, and says pockets of Mexican fan palm in particular make parts of the passage feel like a ready-made fuse. Hartwell is talking about the narrow stretch that connects Keller Canyon into Marian Bear Memorial Park and the broader Tri-Canyons network used by hikers and mountain bikers.
Non-native palms and why experts worry
Her worries about those palms are not just a hiker’s hunch. San Diego Canyonlands notes that Mexican fan palms tend to form dense, highly flammable stands and have been singled out for removal in local restoration work. On its Navajo Canyon restoration page, San Diego Canyonlands outlines a plan to cut down hundreds of these palms to lower high-fire-risk conditions and bring back native plants. The group also points out that taking out the palms helps reduce erosion and supports the recovery of riparian habitat.
The UC Master Gardeners of San Diego County back up that concern, listing Mexican fan palm as an invasive species whose dead fronds can create a fire hazard. Their guidance, available from the UC Master Gardeners of San Diego County, reinforces Hartwell’s argument that those shaggy, untrimmed skirts of palm fronds are not just an eyesore.
City response: checking maintenance reports
A Parks and Recreation spokesperson told CBS 8 the department is “checking into” the maintenance complaints Hartwell filed. City parks guidance directs residents to use the Get It Done portal for non-emergency problems in parks and canyons, explaining that reports are routed to the appropriate division and may take time to be reviewed. Detailed instructions on how to submit a report or look up its status are posted by the City of San Diego Parks & Recreation.
Work already underway in the Tri-Canyons
Keller Canyon is part of the Tri-Canyons area that ties together Tecolote Canyon, Rose Canyon and Marian Bear Memorial Park, and trail advocates say the broader system has not been ignored. The San Diego Mountain Biking Association documents trail stabilization, treadwork and bridge replacement in the Tri-Canyons during 2022-23. The group notes that organizations such as Bike Clairemont and San Diego Canyonlands regularly team up with the city on maintenance projects and volunteer days. Those efforts show the network is on the radar of both local stewardship groups and city staff, even if some stretches, like Hartwell’s Clairemont corridor, look and feel left behind.
Why neighbors say this feels urgent
Neighbors have been sounding the alarm for years that San Diego’s urban canyons are inherently fire-prone and that slow or partial follow-through on maintenance can leave dangerous fuel in place. A 2019 investigation highlighted by inewsource linked canyon fires to brush buildup, encampments and delayed responses through the Get It Done system, leaving nearby homeowners on edge. That backdrop helps explain why one vegetation-choked slice of trail in Clairemont has become a neighborhood flashpoint.
Hartwell says she plans to keep pressing for trimming and targeted removals while Parks & Recreation reviews her reports. Other residents who spot potential fire hazards on canyon trails can file a complaint through the City of San Diego Get It Done app or reach out directly to Parks & Recreation to check on existing requests.
