Chilao School

A creative space in the heart of the forest The school is being left largely intact and retains the charm of its bygone days.

Chilao School is 2,000 square feet of open space with good natural light, located in the heart of the Angeles National Forest, close to Newcomb’s Ranch Restaurant, within a quarter mile of Meadows Group Camp, and surrounded by hiking trails and scenic vistas. The school was built in 1963 by La Canada Unified School District and briefly served the residents of the Angeles National Forest as an elem

entary school. Closed to the public since 1981, the school now belongs to the non profit group Redbird, who is making the space available to rent. Redbird makes this space available to arts, culture, self improvement, forest management, fire ecology and educational groups in the greater Los Angeles area and beyond and hosts programs in arts, culture, healing arts, the environment and life skills.

05/24/2026

Saturday, May 23
Day one of Gary Pickett's Knap In at Chilao School. We'll be here all day Sunday, and we are planning the next gathering for the second weekend of October.

05/17/2026

Today in Chilao.

04/27/2026

4.26.26
Chilao Station from the boneyard ridge.

04/20/2026

04/04/2026

Today is Ron Lobo's birthday. I am going to take a wild and uneducated guess that he is in the top row of students in this image. I'm also thinking that his family was Cal Trans and that they did a lot of the earth moving on the property.

The school and house were bright blue when we acquired the property. Or maybe the house was a pinkish color. But it had been blue. In order to choose the colors to repaint it, I walked around the property with paint chips in one hand and a camera in the other and held various colors up to the chaparral. When you look towards the school from the road, it is framed by the background of Yucca Peak, which is mostly chaparral. That's how we chose the color. Wonder if the original painters (Hensely family?) did the same thing. The color appears to be very similar. And I guess I shouldn't worry about the wood on the benches too much. They've been sagging since 1970...

03/29/2026

My ambitions were a little more than my mind and body were up to. But I got a solid six hours of work in cleaning the school, and did something I've been wanting to do since 2011...I got some lemon oil on those dry wood walls. Golly, nowhere close to all of the wood, but the difference...it's a feel-good thing.

Address

Chilao Campground, GPS 34. 333886/118. 023871
La Canada Flintridge, CA
91023

Website

http://www.RedbirdsVisions.org/

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