This blog will detail 1,000 video hikes in Southern California. By Southern California, I am drawing a line from San Luis Obispo to the Nevada Border. Anything south of that line will be declared "Southern California". In a way, it is a personal challenge to do so many hikes. Mainly, however, it is my way of showcasing how many hiking opportunities there really are right in our own geographic back yard. As a blog, it serves as a companion piece to my Youtube channel "Mike On The Trail". It is also a work in progress, as I don't actually have 1,000 edited videos completed. This will take effort for quite some time before it is declared done. Even then, there will still be more out there. Here's to hiking and all the positive effects it has had on my life...and possibly yours!
With a lot of peak hikes to choose from in the western San Gabriel Range, this is not one of the popular ones. That is not a bad thing, though. As it turns out, most people don't know about it and thus are not around. This makes for a rather peaceful experience.
At Gold Creek Saddle.
From the trailhead, the vast majority of visitors take a right turn to go to Trail Canyon Falls. Instead, going left on Gold Canyon Truck Trail (FR 3N29) is the right way to go. The old dirt road leads to Gold Creek Saddle in 4.5 miles. This is where the peak climbing portion of the hike begins.
Mount McKinley
A use trail carved out of the brush leaves Gold Creek Saddle to the north. The trail continues in a NE route to a saddle below Mount McKinley.
Approaching the summit.
A summit use trail is accessed here and continues the rest of the way to the summit. False summits happen on the way up, but persistence gets the job done. When ready to descend, It is downhill all the way back to Big Tujunga Canyon Road.
Whenever visiting Bonelli Regional Park, I always choose the Park & Ride lot on the west side of the 57 Freeway. This simply allows me to avoid paying unnecessary fees to park when I am just going for a hike. After crossing the freeway bridge, I turned right on a short use trail that drops me down to the Bonelli Trail (which is the main trail that encircles the park). The trail skirts the edge of the park while climbing toward the high points on the south end. When reaching a small reservoir in the hills, I went left off the Bonelli Trail and picked up a trail that stays on a ridge. I proceeded to follow the ridge on the Park View Trail and passed over Puddingstone Point and a few other rocky high points. The trail continues forward and dips before climbing to Via Verde Hill on the east side of the park.
On top of Puddingstone Point.
Via Verde Hill has a chemical installation, so without a hazmat suit, there is no way to actually stand on top of the peak, but a nice trail works its way up its side before bypassing the exact summit.
The chemical "carousel" on top of Via Verde Hill.
The trail drops down and crosses the park road before climbing to the highest point in the park, Bonelli Peak (which is just a little bit higher than Via Verde Hill).
Sharing the views with succulents.
From Bonelli Peak, I crossed over the campground road and picked up the Kikos Trail. This is the most scenic and remote section of trail on the hike, passing through lightly visited backcountry. Meanwhile, the trail descends toward the lake. It eventually drops to the park road next to the lake where the Tree Line Trail is accessible on the left.
Down by the lake.
The Tree Line Trail gradually climbed to another high point at Peak 1106, which features nice lake views.
Views from Peak 1106.
The trail continues forward and quickly descends down to the lake. The trail meets Eucalyptus Park Road, where I made an optional move of going right on the road and quickly picking up the Lake View Trail at the end of the road. The Lake View Trail gives some additional time in remote areas before connecting with Raging Waters Road, just across the freeway from the parking area.
The hike starts in a canyon on the western side of the range off Gold Creek Road. Despite being only a few miles from the city, Yerba Buena Ridge gets very few visitors. The Oak Spring Trail starts in a picturesque grove of oaks and then rises above the canyon. In about 1.5 miles, the trail arrives at Oak Spring. Oak Spring is an oasis like oak grove complete with a running creek and ample shade. Beyond the grove, the trail climbs toward Yerba Buena Ridge.
Approaching Oak Spring.
The single track trail merges with a dirt road known as Yerba Buena Truck Trail (FR 3N20) after another mile. A left turn on the road leads to the high points on the ridge. There are about three or four high point that are accessible along the ridge. I wanted to head to the highest point first (Yerba Buena Ridge). In about 4.5 miles, I stood on the highest point, which had moderate views. A trail from the east connects with this spot, which seems to be the Gold Canyon Trail (it appears to be another good trail option for me in the future).
On Yerba Buena Truck Trail.
The high point was my turnaround point. I went off trail part of the way down to climb three peaks that paralleled the road. Such additional peak climbing is really what made the hike most enjoyable and memorable. Views were better from these lower peaks and seems to rarely get visitors (Yerba Buena Ridge high point included). For the rest of the descent, I returned on the Oak Spring Trail back to Gold Creek Road.
From the Hidden Canyon Trailhead, there is more than one direction to go. I began to the right, which allowed me to go in a clockwise direction. The trail quickly climbed toward a small peak which had a benchmark on it (Springs Benchmark). Beyond, the trail continues through the hilly landscape and into a canyon which bypasses a nearby neighborhood. It quickly turns away from the homes and bends back into the open spaces.
Passing through Weir Canyon.
On my visit, the spring flowers were still out and added color along the way. The trail goes through Weir Canyon, although it doesn't actually pass along the bottom of the canyon. The hike is along the upper walls overlooking the canyon (the canyon is on private property). In at least one spot, there is a small cave next to the trail which look like eye sockets.
So Cal hazard: Trailside rattlesnake.
The trail forms a loop and returns back to the trailhead. Here is where the rest becomes optional. I turned left on the Anaheim Hills Trail and continued to Robbers Peak, which is about 1.5 miles away. This capped off the hike with a nice peak view. This adds three miles to the hike and gives a good introduction to the east side of Santiago Oaks Regional Park.
