options that a trip presents are described.
The hikes have been graded as easy, moderate, or strenuous. An easy trip is usually 4 miles or less in horizontal distance, with less than a 500-foot elevation gain—suitable for beginners and children. A moderate trip—including the majority here—is a 5- to 10-mile hike, usually with less than a 2,500-foot elevation difference. You should be in fair physical condition for these, and children under age 12 might find the going difficult. Strenuous trips are all-day rambles involving many miles of hiking and much elevation gain and loss; they are only for those in top physical condition and with hiking experience. The most important criteria for grading a trip were mileage covered, elevation gain and loss, and condition of the trail. Of less significance were accessibility of terrain, availability of water, exposure to sun, and ground cover. Obviously, some of the latter criteria depend on the weather and the time of year: a 3-mile hike over open chaparral slopes can be miserable under the hot August sun but delightful in January’s cool breeze and cloudiness.
A season recommendation is also included for each trip. This classification is particularly important in the lower, south-facing parts of the range, where fire danger in summer and fall often reaches what the US Forest Service calls Stage One. During Stage One, campfires are permitted only in stoves in designated campgrounds and picnic areas. Gas-type portable stoves may be used if you obtain a California campfire permit—available at any ranger station or visitor center. In conditions of extreme fire danger, the forest may be closed to entry off of major highways. In recent years a series of disastrous infernos has taken a heavy toll, both in property damage and in the cost required to fight the fires. The result is that wholesale closure of the forest during certain times, particularly the fall months, will increasingly be a common occurrence.
Wilderness Permits
There are five wilderness areas in the San Gabriels—Cucamonga, Sheep Mountain, San Gabriel, and, newly created in 2009, the Pleasant View Ridge and Magic Mountain Wilderness areas. A free permit is required for all entry into the Cucamonga Wilderness, and for entry into the Sheep Mountain Wilderness from the East Fork trailhead only.
National Forest Adventure Pass Requirement
A National Forest Adventure Pass is required to park your vehicle in any of the four national forests in Southern California. Adventure passes cost $30 for an annual pass or $5 for a day pass; they can be purchased at ranger stations, visitor centers, and many business establishments in or near the mountains. Be sure to display the pass prominently on your parked car—otherwise it will likely be ticketed and fined. Please note that most of the trips covered in this book require you to display an Adventure Pass in your parked vehicle. The following are the trips where you park on city streets, or that begin in a park with separate entrance fees, and do not require the pass: 5, 14–15, 23–28, 34, 39–40, 48–50, 67–68, and 91.
100 Hikes in the San Gabriels
Liebre Mountain
HIKE 1
COUNTY ROAD N2 VIA HORSE TRAIL TO LIEBRE MOUNTAIN
HIKE LENGTH: 6 miles round-trip; 1,700' elevation gain
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
SEASON: All year
TOPO MAP: Liebre Mountain
Features
The long whaleback of Liebre Mountain sprawls at the northwest corner of Angeles National Forest, where the Coast Ranges, the Tehachapis, and the San Gabriels all meld together in a wrinkled jumble. From Liebre’s broad summit, you look north across golden-brown Antelope Valley to the Tehachapis, curving from west to northeast in a great arc; and if the day is clear, the southern ramparts of the Sierra Nevada are visible on the distant skyline. Southward, you peer into the gentle ridge-and-canyon country of the Cienaga and Fish Canyon watersheds.
This is delightful mountain country, especially in spring, when snow patches linger on north slopes, the California black oak is clothing itself with reddish leaves, and aromatic white sage is blooming in the foothills. This is the home of the gray pine, a hardy dweller on semiarid slopes, easily identifiable by its gray-green needles, large cones (second in size only to the Coulter pine), and multiforked trunk. Also on the mountainside are big-cone Douglas-firs and some rather large scrub oaks. Occasional junipers and piñon pines bear testimony to the blending of mountain and desert here.
This trip follows the historic old Horse Trail, now part of the Pacific Crest Trail but once used to drive horses from the Tejon Ranch to Los Angeles, steeply up the forested north slope of Liebre Mountain from Horse Trail Flat to the summit. Do it in leisurely fashion to fully appreciate the desert view and the unique combination of forest trees and chaparral. It’s a long drive from Los Angeles, but the mountainside is remote, peaceful, and beautiful—well worth the effort.
Description
From I-5, 4 miles south of Gorman, turn east onto CA 138. After 4.5 miles, turn right (southeast) onto the Old Ridge Route. Follow the latter 2.5 miles, and then turn left (east) onto County Road N2. Drive this road 4.2 miles, to a high point just before the road begins to descend. Turn right (south) and drive on dirt tracks about 100 feet to the oak-shaded parking area. Be sure to display your Adventure Pass on your vehicle’s dashboard.
At the upper edge of the parking area is the Pacific Crest Trail, the southbound section climbing west, the northbound dropping southeast. Take the southbound PCT, which ascends the mountainside. (If you start descending, you’re on the wrong trail segment.) You switchback up through live oaks and gray pines, with far-ranging views over Antelope Valley to the Tehachapis. After 2 miles you pass Wilderness Camp to your right. A table and fire ring are here, but there’s no water. (Water can usually be found in Horse Camp Canyon just behind and steeply down from the camp; the easiest way to get water is to continue up the trail 0.25 mile, where the descent into the canyon is less steep.) You continue switchbacking upward, under a cool canopy of pines and oaks. Near the top your trail becomes an old jeep track. About 60 yards before you reach the crest and a junction with Forest Road 7N23, turn right and scramble to the small rock cairn that marks the 5,791-foot summit of Liebre Mountain.
Return the way you came. Or, with a car shuttle, meet your transportation on FR 7N23 on the crest of the long Liebre hogback. To drive to the crest, follow the Old Ridge Route to its crossing of the west end of Liebre Mountain, 5 miles up from CA 138, and then turn left (east) onto FR 7N23. Follow the latter, a narrow dirt road, steep in places, to the crest.
HIKE 2
SAWMILL MOUNTAIN RIDGE TO ATMORE MEADOWS, GILLETTE MINE, BEAR CANYON
HIKE LENGTH: 14 miles round-trip; 1,700' elevation gain and loss
DIFFICULTY: Strenuous
SEASON: All year
TOPO MAPS: Burnt Peak, Liebre Mountain
Features
Just south of the great whalebacks of Liebre and Sawmill Mountains lies some of the loneliest mountain country in Angeles National Forest. This is a region of long, meandering canyons, gentle ridges, and rounded summits. Chaparral is king here; its prickly greenness blankets everything except the canyon bottoms, where tall oaks and sycamores grow and there are a few isolated stands of big-cone Douglas-firs and pines. This is also the realm of California mule deer, a favorite of
