By Gabby Roscuata, September 8, 2026
The Cal Poly Pomona’s Office of Risk Management posted a restricted area sign at the CPP letters trail entrance Aug. 14 after a risk assessment deemed the trail dangerous, according to the Vice President of Student Affairs Christina Gonzales.
“It is very steep and rocky,” Gonzales said. “Going up is dangerous but especially coming down.”
This is not the first time the trail has had issues with hazards. According to previous Poly Post coverage, the letters were initially slated to be removed due to safety concerns in 2024, but since then, they’ve remained on the hill. Since 2020, there have not been any reports of injuries while using the trail, Gonzales said.
According to CPP News, the original letters have resided on the hill since 1959. The sign is the only new installation on the trail since 2025, according to Director of Media Relations Cynthia Peters.
“For right now, (the trail closure) is more permanent unless something else changes,” Gonzales said. “We would have to do significant changes to create it more like a walkway in order for it to meet our safety standards.”
Gonzales said the school is not currently looking to change the trail’s status. Making the trail safer is an investment, and a feasibility study must happen to see how much the changes would cost.
Gonzales noted the importance of having the trail ADA accessible if the trail was updated. Along with building costs and safety standards, Gonzales said Cal Poly Pomona wants the trail to be accessible to anyone. This includes adding guard rails and smoothing out the trail path.
Gonzales also said student organizations were alerted of the closure before the sign was installed.
Gonzales said CPP needs to invest in creating a switchback, a zigzag trail used to descend a steep path safely, if they wanted to make the trail safer.
“Those are the things that we’d have to look at if that could even happen,” Gonzales said. “But at this point in time, it’s not something that we’re looking at doing; just from the investment side.”
Despite the closure, the CPP interactive campus map still shows the trail. You can find the trail’s start behind the Health Services building in Parking Lot J, with a direct path that leads to the letters.
After seeing it, students expressed sadness for the closure of the trail, as many used it to make friends on campus. Biology student Harry Kim said he first used the trail during his freshman year after a friend recommended it to him.
“It was a really great time to just decompress and appreciate the moment and not be caught up in the stress of being a college student,” Kim said. “I went with my friends, and it was just appreciating the time I have with them.”
Kim went on to use the trail five more times, with one occasion being for a class. Kim said his professor sent the class out to the trail to spend time with classmates outside of the allotted time for lectures.
Computer science student Abraham Lopez also used the trail, both to exercise and to hang out with his friends. Lopez said it was important for incoming freshmen to experience the trail.
“I remember since orientation, I was told that’s kind of one of the things you want to do here on campus,” Lopez said. “(They told me to) at least visit the trail once.”
