Mentally Sensitive in Laguna

I was looking at a map of Aliso & Woods Canyon Park in the Laguna Beach area recently and noticed that it included “Mentally Sensitive Trail.” Of course, I immediately wondered how it got its name.

It's no secret that Laguna has its share of folks with a tenuous grip on reality: Artsy types (distinguished from actual artists), cultists, occultists, rich hippies, and people who pay a fortune to balance their homes on the edges of cliffs. But would one celebrate this kind of "mental sensitivity" with the naming of a park trail?

Probably not.

Photo of a newer trail sign, taken by Yelp user "Yvonne N."

Perhaps the trail was named in honor of the snowflakes in our universities, who are so "mentally sensitive" that they are unable to cope with even the micro-ist of "micro-aggressions" and who melt when exposed to opinions different from their own. But again, why would anyone commemorate something so embarrassing?

Actually, it turns out the real answer is slightly less silly, but still kinda weird. 

Detail from OC Parks trail map of Aliso & Woods Canyon Park.

According to OC Parks Resource Specialist Rick Schaffer, the oral tradition is that "it was originally an unauthorized trail with a sign that read, 'Environmentally Sensitive Area'" but that "someone scratched off the 'Environ' letters, leaving 'mentally Sensitive Area'" on the sign. In 2011, this steep trail was developed and made official, but the old name stuck.

Sadly, the creatively vandalized sign is long gone, but a new and official "Mentally Sensitive Trail" sign has replaced it -- which is almost better/funnier.

Rumors circulate that this and other colorful trail names may be changed to new and boring names. Really?!? Why is boring always considered "better" in Orange County these days?

UPDATE, 2-1-2021: Retired OC Parks Ranger Tom Maloney wrote to me with a first-hand account of the Mentally Sensitive saga:

“It was back in the late 1980's and early 1990's… After [we] Park Rangers were chastised for using the negative word ‘no’ in regard to what was not allowed in the park (i.e., no guns, hunting, camping, fires or off trail-usage) we tried an environmentally friendly tactic. We made up some signs to appeal to the ‘good’ folks, mostly from Laguna Beach area to use only official trails, and not to make new trails of their own.

“One such ‘outlaw’ trail went down an incredibly steep ridgeline down into lower Aliso Canyon in an area not open to public use at the time.   

“We placed signs on a sturdy post at the top near Top of the World and at the bottom in Aliso Canyon.  We were attempting to educate the public not to use this and other trails of this type by stating the area/habitat was ‘Environmentally Sensitive.’ And it was. The California Gnatcatcher (bird species) used this as prime nesting habitat. However, use by hikers, mountain bikers and dogs disrupted and disturbed this and other endangered species in the park.

“The local outlaw mountain bike group vandalized these signs, and where they could not tear them out of the ground and hide them, they snapped off the fiberglass signs.  Hence the remaining sign that read ‘...Mentally Sensitive.’

"Obviously being nice did not work."

UPDATE, 11-21-2022: Avid trail runner and former Orange County Register reporter Greg Hardesty informs me that the trail's name has now been changed to Sheep Run Trail. It appears that the rumored threat of boring new names for park trails has come to pass.