Hiking trails and nature trails as of 24/Nov/2011
Volunteers and paid construction crews have been restoring the hiking
and nature trails in the Crystal Lake camp grounds. More than half of the
trails are in excellent and safe condition.
- Half Knob Trail -- This trail was completely restored and is
currently in excellent condition. This is a short hike trail
which begins and ends at points along the main paved roadway leading
to the Visitor Center. The trailhead is located at North 34 degrees,
19.444 by West 117 degrees, 50.210 at 5717 feet.
- Lake Trail -- Lake Trail is in great condition with the start of the
trailhead having a new rock bridge built by volunteers. The trail
cuts across the camp grounds and joins the main road that heads up to
the Visit Center to Lake Road. The start of the trail head from the
main road end is located at North 34 degrees, 19.410 by West 117
degrees, 50.261 at 5744 feet.
- Golden Cup Nature Trail -- This trail has been completly restored.
There was extensive flooding along this trail. This is a short hike
with four or five information boards placed along the trail. The trail
itself forms a loop such that the start and end of the hike is near a main
paved road. The trailhead is located at North 34 degrees, 19.630 by
West 117 degrees, 50.108 at 5865 feet.
- Big Cieneca Trail -- This trail was reworked on 01/Sep/07 and at the
time all of the downed tress across the trail were removed. Because parts of
the trail are in the 2002 Curve Fire burn area, more trees have fallen
across the trail so there are obstructions once again. This trail is 1.2
miles long and has its start at the Mount Saint Hawkins dirt road which
has been abandoned. There are a number of washouts along this trail however
you should be able to continue to find the trail fairly easily.
- Windy Gap -- This trail has seen considerable maintenance over the past
year with dead trees obstructing the trail removed, boulders blocking the
trail levered over the side, and tread work being done. This trail is
2.5 miles long and has its start at a paved road. The trailhead is
located at North 34 degrees, 19.890 by West 117 degrees, 50.021 at
6099 feet. Trail restoration efforts continue to be made since not all of
the trees obstructing the trail have been removed, and a number of the Sutter
Walls have been damaged due to falling trees. Also there is one spot where
rock and dirt has inundated the trail so you will have to scramble carefully
across that spot.
- Pacific Crest Trail -- The condition of this trail is not known.
This trail section within the Crystal Lake basin is 2.5 miles long
and has its start at the Mount Saint Hawkins dirt road (which is abandoned.)
The trail is actually 2,663 miles long and much of it is maintained by the
Pacific Crest Trail Association which is
an unpaid volunteer organization much like the
though not
quite as rugged and not nearly as handsome.
- Little Jimmy Trail Camp -- The condition of this trail is not known.
This trail is 2.8 miles long.
- Mount Hawkins Trail -- The trail received a considerable amount of
volunteer repair work done before the last snows however a great many
dead trees remain on the upper 2 miles and some additional new work needs
to be performed on the first 2 miles. The trail meets up with the Pacific
Crest Trail.
- Pinyon Ridge -- This trail was fully restored during National Trails
Day of 2006, and it's in excellent condition. This is a moderately
long trail which forms a loop that takes hikers up the side of the
mountain ridge, along the ridge, and then back down again, curving around
to form the loop. There is water present at three places along the trail
all year, and the start of the trail requires about an hour's worth of
effort to remove new growth. The trail head location is the same as the
start of Soldier Creek: North 34 degrees, 19.354 by West 117 degrees,
49.976 at 5656 feet. There are a few minor trees down across the trail
which hikers can easily step over.
- Soldier Creek Trail -- Fire damage and flooding caused significant
damage to this trail and it was considered a complete loss for a number of
years however the Trailbuilders and fire fighters were able to restore the
trail to the point where it is once again safe to use. The trail head
location is the same as the start of Pinyon Ridge trail: North 34
degrees, 19.354 by West 117 degrees, 49.976 at 5656 feet.
- Lost Ridge Trail -- This is another excellent hiking trail which has
been fully restored by the San Gabriel Mountains Trailbuilders.
This trail is just about one mile long with one end of the trailhead
up near Deer Flats and the other end on Lake Road. To increase safety, the
Trailbuilder crew installed steps in a number of places and the volunteers
may decide to install more steps in moderately steep places in the future.
The lake road trail head is located at North 34 degrees, 19.452 by West
117 degrees, 50.463 at 5728 feet. The other end of the trail is in
the Deer Flats Campgrounds and it's located at North 34 degrees, 19.977
by West 117 degrees, 50.365 at 6344 feet. In the Summer of 2011 the
extensive plant growth along the way has been cut back and nearly all of
the downed trees obstructing the trail have been cleared. There is one
last remaining tree to be removed however hikers may simply step over it.
- Tototngna Nature Trail -- A great deal of work has been performed to
re-define and open-up this trail to the point where the entire loop can be
hiked. This is short nature trail which forms a loop and can be
accessed from a paved road. The trail head is located at North 34
degrees, 19.538 by West 117 degrees, 49.767 at 5929 feet. Becuase the
trail forms a loop, the Y where the trail splits can be difficult to notice
which is why a sign has been manufactured and needs to be installed so that
the Y junction is more noticable.
- Cedar Canyon Trail -- This trail has its start on the main road
leading up to the Visitor Center. It's a moderately long trail
that leads to a good volume of water. The trail actually meets up with
Soldier Creek Trail which has been restored fully. The trailhead for this
end of the trail is located at North 34 degrees, 19.366 by West 117
degrees, 50.280 at 5820 feet.
- Sunset Ridge Nature Trail -- This trail is located inside of the
Deer Flats Campgrounds. It's a short trail which forms a loop
that ends about 30 feet from where it begins. The trail has been fully
restored. The location of this trail is at North 34 degrees, 20.002
by West 117 degrees, 50.249 at 6423 feet.
During the year the Trailbuilders continue to maintain all of the hiking
and nature trails within the Crystal Lake basin unless there is too much
snow on the ground to make maintenance possible.
In addition to the established trails, hikers can also pack water and
walk up to the old Mount Saint Hawkins fire watch tower which burned down
to the ground in the last series of fires. The dirt road up to the destroyed
fire tower is currently in "damaged" condition at one point where
a major washout has taken place. Because the road has been officially
abandoned, the condition of the road is expected to deteriorate over the
coming years until much of it simply disappears.
