Trails of the Angeles. John W. Robinson

      HIKE 10

      BIG TUJUNGA TO TOM LUCAS TRAIL CAMP, INDIAN BEN SADDLE, UPPER PACOIMA CANYON, DEER SPRINGS, MESSENGER FLATS CAMPGROUND

      HIKE LENGTH: 11 miles one way; 4,200' elevation gain

      DIFFICULTY: Strenuous (1 day); moderate (2 days)

      SEASON: May–October

      TOPO MAPS: Sunland, Condor Peak, Acton

      Features

      Note: The Big Tujunga region was heavily impacted by the 2009 Station Fire and has only recently—spring 2012—been reopened to access. As of this writing in spring 2013, the trail is passable to Tom Lucas Trail Camp, but be sure to ask the US Forest Service about current conditions before venturing farther.

      This delightful one-way trip (a car shuttle is recommended) climbs all the way up Trail Canyon to Mendenhall Ridge, and then ascends Upper Pacoima Canyon to Deer Springs and the pine-shaded Messenger Flats Campground just below Mount Gleason. You get superb views over the chaparral-clad and pine-dotted high country at the west end of the San Gabriels. You should be particularly delighted with the new trail stretch in Upper Pacoima, a canyon oasis of big-cone Douglas-firs, ponderosas, and sugar pines seldom trod by hikers.