Make no mistake: unless you are an experienced hiker or a triathlete, or a trail-running…read moremarathoner, or maybe a Jack Russell Terrier who just had an espresso shot, this is a challenging hike... but mile for mile, it is a great way to spend a day exploring several different ecosystems within the San Gabriel mountains. Starting in Eaton Canyon, there are at least three different entry points-- two of them along Altadena Drive that runs adjacent to the canyon, and the highest entry off Pinecrest Dr.--to begin your journey. Eaton Canyon has a well-travelled dirt trail through the lower scrub of yucca, buckwheat, and sage in the mostly dry boulder field of the canyon bottom. If you enter at Pinecrest, you will bypass this, cut about a mile off the trip, and use the bridge to access the Mt. Wilson Toll Road. The Toll Road is an historic pathway dating back to the 1890s. Today, the "toll" portion of the title is a misnomer, as the trail is free for pedestrians, cyclists, and horses. The Toll Road is a steady uphill climb and mostly unshaded for about 2.5 miles to Henninger Flats. At last Check, there was no potable water at Henninger (or anywhere else in this hike) so plan your hydration according to weather and your needs. Henninger features a nature center (seasonally open), picnic and overnight camping facilities, and a tree farm. Continuing up the toll road about a mile past Henninger, the main toll road makes a switchback turn to the right... and easy-to-miss the first time on the LEFT your path continues to Idlehour Camp, beginning with a small wooden bridge. You'll notice the trail narrows significantly from here on to Inspiration Point. The trail climbs a little, then you start your descent into upper Eaton Canyon. As you go, you'll notice fewer signs of humanity, except maybe the erosion controls on the trail, as well as some pretty views of Mt. Wilson, Mt. Baden Powell, and some of the decomposed granite rock formations above Eaton Canyon. Be careful of overhanging poison oak in this area. This is also likely the buggiest part of the trip, with plenty of black flies to keep you company. If you have a head net... now's the time. Towards the bottom, you'll discover a very different Eaton Canyon: you are now a couple of miles above the lower waterfall where weekend canyon visitors bring lawn chairs, ice chests, and loud Bluetooth speakers. Instead of yucca and prickly pear cactus on a dry creek bed, you'll likely find flowing water under a canopy of oaks and bay trees. In season, wildflowers are abundant... but watch your step, as there is a lot of poison oak here, too. Some primitive campsites here feel like they're hundreds of miles from civilization, when really, you're only about 5. Stop here, sit, and enjoy what Eaton Canyon is SUPPOSED to be. Have a drink of water. Heading essentially north from Idlehour camp, more or less parallel to the creek, the hiking trail is slightly broken in places but pretty easy to recover. The trail will continue up the west canyon wall of Upper Eaton, climbing through chaparral, into and through oak scrub, a pine forest, and mature stands of manzanita. As you climb, the trail softens a bit underfoot in the forest duff, and if you're an old trail runner like me, you will love this part the best. Depending on seasonal winter rains, April or May can be exquisite for wildflower viewing in this area. Approaching Inspiration Point, you will pass through an area that burned relatively recently. The narrow single track will join a wider trail called Mt. Lowe Rd. and there is a small sign listing Mt. Lowe and other spots up the way. If you continue more or less straight, you're on the Sam Merrill trail... and going the wrong way. When you hit the crossroads, make a strong left on Mt. Lowe Rd. and walk up the last stretch of wide dirt road to Inspiration Point. You've made it! Take a seat, relax, and enjoy the view. Return the way you came, or you can take the Castle Canyon trail to the left of the interpretive center at the top (rocky and steep in places, but very pretty and sometimes shaded) or the Sam Merrill Trail (a little more forgiving, but a little slippery in places if you have bad shoes) to Echo Mountain, then down to the top of Lake Avenue, and walk streets through northern Altadena back to your car at Eaton Canyon (which will add a couple of miles to your trip on the loop...making it something like an 18 mile loop!) This is one of my favorite hikes in Southern California, and it will provide most of us with a great challenge. Try it in different seasons for different experiences. As a reminder, always file a "hiking plan" with someone back home... just send someone a text with your route and times so that if something unexpected happens, responders will know where to look. Be safe, take extra water, leave only footprints (don't litter), and have fun out there!

Great hiking place. It is a bit challenging but totally worth it. I have done this trail multiple…read moretimes already and I don't get tired of the view once you get to the top.

Stoddard peak is a mountain summit located near Mount Baldy that provides a great trail for first…read moretimers looking to challenge themselves to a peak. Roundtrip the hike is just about 6 miles. Most of the hike is along a grated road/trail which provides easy walking. The last part of the trail to the peak presents some challenges as you meander your way to the peak, dealing with some edge drop offs and rock scrambling. The hike starts right after a small power station off the Mt Baldy road- just after a couple of tunnels. There is an upper and lower parking lot. If parking at the lower lot, at night time watch out for the big pot holes- best for high profile cars. If both lots are full, there are additional lots- but watch for signs designating no parking. Make sure you display your adventure pass or national park pass, otherwise you may get a ticket. Once you start your hike, you have the opportunity to enjoy some sights of cute cabins- there is one that looks like a Hansel and Grettle house. The trailhead starts beyond the cabins, past a gate. The route to the peak is pretty straight forward till the end. The route will provide a gradual hill climb with approximately 1145 feet elevation gain. As of September 2025, there was an arrow made out of rocks on the ground that pointed to the climb for the peak- don't miss this turnoff. At this point you will be going uphill through some low bushes. As you proceed on, you will pass by some false peaks, make sure you continue on until you reach the peak with the sign with triangle and a number. You will also see some signs for pictures. Best to start early during warmer months- as the hike has very limited shade. Also the parking lots on the weekends get busy early- we arrived at 6am and the parking lots were near full. Download trail map- as there is not reception near the peak.

It's not a business. First part of trail very easy. Drop off to canyon very scary looking!read more

Its a hidden spot theres no signs so make sure you follow the exact lin point of your maps app…read more Theres no parking so parki alongside the road if find an open spot. Only way i found the opening was from people exiting the spot. It was off putting to see people disposing their trash right by the opening i guess people camp around here.. I would rate the hike moderate theres no guided path so use yoir instincts to navigate through here. You will reach a point to proceed once you reach the waterfall with a rope to climb up. I didnt go up i think its smarter if you bring gloves and good hiking boots cuz there are large rocks and boulders to climb over Please dont leave a trace

The most difficult part is finding the start of the trailhead. Once you pass the graffiti tower,…read moreyou are close! You'll also see some signage saying North Fork. I would keep an eye out for an opening in overgrown vegetation. It is off the 39. The cars parked out front help as well. There is limited parking and I'd say 10-12 cars max fit on the same side of the trailhead. Pros: clean and secluded. I think I counted about a dozen people total on my hike in and back. Con: short lol The trail has a good amount of shade and smaller falls and streams along the way. You'll transverse several rocks and low crossings and fallen trees so waterproof boots are best. I had my 65lbs senior pitlab mix with me on our hike. I had to lift and carry him over some of the rocks. Since it rained yesterday, portions of the trail were muddy. Visited on 1.16.22

I did this great hike back in September of 2019 and really loved it despite it being one of the 5…read morehardest hikes I have personally done. Parking- an Adventure Pass is needed which costs $5 for one day or $30 for the year (I like to get the annual and add a 2nd car pass for $5 additional dollars and split the cost with a hiking buddy...so $17.50 and we each have a pass for our car for the year); my hiking buddy Jose parked his car at Manker Flat and I drove him back to the Ice House parking lot where we started our hike from Trail- the Ice House Canyon Trail is beautiful and you are hiking near the Ice House Creek for most of the 3.5 miles up to the saddle; this section is pretty busy since this is the trail that people who are hiking to Ontario Peak or Cucamonga Peak use also; once at the saddle most people take a little snack break since you have been steadily climbing for the past hour and a half; trails signs are visible at the saddle and the Three T's trail is to the left and the next 3.5 miles I found to be the hardest as you make your way to Timber and Telegraph Peaks...the views along the trail and at the peaks are phenomenal (esp. Telegraph)...this portion the elevation will be between 7,500 and 9,000 ft so depending on how comfortable you are at the altitude you may experience some fatigue/breathing issues; the final peak of the Three T's, Thunder Mountain, is the easiest to reach but it is the least impressive; from Thunder you make your way down to the Baldy Notch which has a bathroom, water refill station, and a good place to buy a snack or a drink; after taking a 15-20 min break at the lodge area we made the boring walk down the fire road to Manker Flat for about 3 miles...if you don't have a 2nd car parked here than you need to walk a couple more miles down the paved Mt. Baldy Rd back to your one car at Ice House or maybe someone will see you walking and offer you a ride down to your car Details Distance- almost 14 miles Elevation Gain- almost 5k feet Elevation Peak- 8,976 ft Duration- Total time of 7hrs with 5.5 hrs of actual hiking time since we took 5 breaks (saddle, each of the Three T's, and at the notch) *the first half (7 miles) of the hike is the hardest since you are averaging between 500-800 ft of elevation gain per mile Tips- start early since this hike will take most people between 6-8 hrs and you will want to avoid the effects of heat/sun exposure; bring layers since there will be temperature fluctuations; wear hiking shoes/boots...wouldn't recommend wearing just tennis shoes on this one; bring 2-3 liters of water, pack snacks, hiking poles might be good but not a must, and try to use 2 cars so you can park one at each lot (Manker & Ice House)

Like the great views, lodge for snacks, chair lift down. Lodge staff thoughtfully gave senior…read morediscount $10 tickets for chair lift down. Sorry to say potato wedges are nearly addictive- our group of 7 went through 3 baskets. Liked the cool breeze that made top areas pleasant while temperatures down in the village got into 90s in mid July. Thankfully, water for refilling containers was available at lodge at top of lower chair lift, say 10 miles in. TheHikingGuy has useful web page and video of the route. Could use portable signs, for photos, like one sees on Mt Gorgonio etc.

Old Mt. Baldy Trail is a wide road trail for most of the way from Manker Flat to Top of the Notch…read more You pass waterfalls and can see people coming up on the gondolas. There is one area near the top that was recently washed out, so it's rocky, but still there is plenty of room to pass others and it doesn't feel unsafe at all. You can also go past this area and go a little future around the rocky path if you want to stay on flatter ground. It's a nice incline, so a good workout. On a clear day, the views are amazing. And you can have a great lunch at Top of the Notch as a reward. Their grilled Turkey Sandwich is yummy. They also have beer, hot cocoa, and other snacks. Then it's a relaxing hike back down. It's the perfect time of year right now, because it's cold and sunny, but no snow on this trail (currently--always check the weather before you hike!). And oh how good you feel after a hike in the hills! :)

Old installations, and overpriced services. Even going to enjoy nature is WAY OVERPRICED. once…read morevisiting this place was enough of experience. You are not missing anything you can see in other areas.

This isn't your typical hiking trail but my dog and I absolutely love this hike! Not many hikes…read morearound the IE are dog friendly so I wanted to check this one out with our pup. Tip: Drive further up than the address that Yelp provides. You'll see some cars and cars parked on the side of the road. We've been parking there and it's been fine! There's a small stream of water which makes this so much fun. It's beautiful with lots of rocks, shrubs, and flat ground. You kind of just explore the area and come back when you're ready. My dog has never been happier. One thing I love is that there are not too many people. We've only seen 1-2 other groups there and that's about it. So we can really enjoy our time there! Highly recommend for dog owners. Just don't expect a trail because there isn't one!

Not a far drive at all. With the snowpack it was worrh wild. Pretty cool to get away from the city…read moreand get some one on one with yourself.

Good hike good place to take photos and hang out with friends pretty cool place to look atread more

I did this hike last month in April. We were lucky to do it with good weather. Also, we started…read morethis hike from the northern side where the Stoddard Peak trailhead is located. We started the hike early too, which always helps with a hike of this distance. We started at 5 AM and hiked to Stoddard Peak which is a beautiful and pretty easy hike. We then continued on the main trail south toward Frankish Peak. I have to be honest and admit that I had never heard of this trail until the weak before when I got the invite from one of my hiker friends to join a group of hikers to do this one. We hiked for another 2.5 miles and then reached an area where there are some connected trails and this area was beautiful and we didn't encounter any hikers/mountain bikers during the first half of this hike. At this point we had to make a decision to take a trail way out to the east that looked to be a longer route to Frankish Peak or what looked like a more direct, steeper trail to the peak. We opted for the shorter route...problem was it looked like a trail on the map and looked like it may have actually been a trail at one time but this trail has not been maintained or used by the looks of it in may years. We had to walk through sharp shrubbery and even had to get on our hands and knees and crawl under the brush for portions of the last mile to the peak...most of this last mile was also rather steep. We were also a bit disappointed to not find anything that officially looked like we were at the top of Frankish Peak. We stayed for a while on what looked like the peak according to the map and we also made our way to another high flat area nearby where we found a box with some hiking stickers that might indicate that was the peak. On the way back, we took the longer trail that was better maintained and not as hard Distance- from the Stoddard trailhead to Stoddard Peak and Frankish Peak and back to the parking lot was about 14 miles Duration- I would estimate it to take around 7 to 8 hours of your time including time to eat, take pictures, etc... Difficulty- hard not necessarily due to the overall elevation gain but mainly due to the pieces of steep, rocky stretches and the overall length of 14 miles

A STAPLE AND STITCHES KIND OF A HIKE…read more BACKGROUND: I searched high and low for information about this particular hike, but found nothing. This was an exploratory hike for everyone. We were SIX VIRGINS ON AN OFF-TRAIL, at least to the point of Bear Canyon Trail. STATS: 8.6 miles 5000ft elevation Route consisted of rock, pine cones, tree logs, and some dirt A good amount of rock climbing ESSENTIALS: Hiking shoes with good lug soles Water Layered clothing Hiking Poles Snacks Camera Sun screen Hat (optional) Helmet Gloves First aid kit OUR ROUTE: This hike is definitely not for beginners, or anyone who get woozy by the sight of blood or suffers from altitude sickness. This as my first hike where someone was injured to the point of needing a staple in the head and stitches in the leg. More details on that later. Our route started at the large turnout about a half-mile beyond Icehouse Canyon. After walking down the dry San Antonio creek bed, we got to the mouth of Stead Canyon. Old flags, occasionally marked the path, but it was a pretty simple subject of sticking to the boulder-lined wash. A class 3 dry waterfall called our rock climbing names, responding to the call a couple of us scaled up the wall, while others took an easier route. Once to the crest of the wall we weren't certain which direction to go, it was really confusing. We could go upwards through one of the gullies that didn't look too bad, but the question was which one. Unfortunately the GPS wasn't cooperating. After some deliberation, we resolved to remain in the canyon proper. We ended up in one of the small gullies that comes in about 6800'. This is where a SisTa from another mother and father took a nasty spill. Crossing an unexpected slippery log her feet shot up into the sky and back, she felt, about three feet down where her head landed on a rock, resulting in slow oozing blood from the top of her head. She likewise received a nasty cut on her leg. After applying pressure to both areas, giving her the eye test, she was ready to continue. At this point we all put our helmets on. At a little over 8000ft we hung a left and headed to Mt. Baldy via Bear Canyon Trail. It was SisTa's first time summiting Mt. Baldy and she wasn't going to let the head and leg injury stop her from getting to the top and having her picture taken with the placard. After hanging out, chatting with some Crew members who were hanging out, taking it all in through the eyes and lens, we headed down the Devils Backbone to The Notch. Yes, the same route was taken here that I took on National Trails Day 2013... review posted a week or so ago. Although SisTa took a nasty spill that resulted in a staple in her head and two stitches in her leg, we all enjoyed this hike for it was a day of being with wonderful, caring, and supportive who love the outdoors and rock climbing. DISCLAIMER: Hiking is not something that can be taken lightly. It can be life-threatening as you see and hear on the news, people die or get lost all time. Please, if you are going to hike, never go alone and prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Remember when going for a hike, no matter how short you think it may be, always be prepared. Carry at least two liters of water for every five miles (more if the weather is warm), protein bar, nuts, and electrolytes. Wear sturdy lug sole shoes and protective clothing. Some areas the weather can change quicker than a fireman can put on his gear. It is also very important, always always always let a family member or friend know where you are going and when you expect to be back. Lastly, have fun when you hike it up. #HIKING #NOTBEGINNER #INTERMEDIATE #ADVANCED #ROCKCLIMBING