High Climbing and Hairpin Curves on Old Baldy’s Trails

Three saintly mountains--San Gorgonio, San Jacinto and San Antonio--tower over the City of the Angeles. The shortest of the three--but by far the best known--is Mt. San Antonio, more commonly known as Old Baldy.

The 10,064-foot peak, highest in the San Gabriel Mountains, is visible from much of the Southland. Its summit gleams white in winter and early spring, gray in summer and fall. Old Baldy is so big and bare that it appears to be snow-covered even when it is not.

Legend has it that around 1790 the padres of Mission San Gabriel named the massive stone bulwark after St. Anthony of Padua, Italy. The 13th-Century Franciscan friar was evidently a favorite of California missionaries: A number of geographical features in Monterey County and around Southern California honor San Antonio. In the 1870s, San Antonio Canyon and the nearby high country swarmed with gold seekers, who dubbed the peak a more earthy Old Baldy.

The Baldy Summit Inn

From 1890 to 1915, “the golden era of hiking” in Southern California, many San Gabriel Mountain resorts opened to meet the demand of hikers. One of the resorts was the Baldy Summit Inn, perched just below the summit of the great mountain. Gale-force winds battered the above-timberline camp, which consisted of two stone buildings and a cluster of tents. William Dewey, owner and tour guide, and his wife, the chef, welcomed guests to their resort during the summers of 1910, 1911 and 1912. Advertised rates were $1 a meal, $1 a bed. The camp burned in 1913 and never reopened.

Three trails lead to the summit of Old Baldy. The most difficult route is the Bear Flat, or Old Baldy Trail, which gains 5,500 feet as it climbs the south ridge of Old Baldy to the top. Another strenuous route climbs Old Baldy from the backside via Pine and Dawson Mountains. A more moderate, but certainly not easy, ascent follows the Devil’s Backbone Trail from Baldy Notch to the summit. This is a popular trail and the one most hikers associate with Old Baldy. A clear-day view from the top offers a panorama of desert and ocean, the sprawling Southland and the southern High Sierra.

Old Baldy is a bit austere from afar, but up close the white granite shoulders of the mountain are softened by a forest of pine and fir. In October, a taste of fall, indeed winter, is in the air. Now, before the first serious snowfall, is the time to bid adieu to the high country until next spring. Dress warmly for this trip and keep an eye out for rapidly changing weather conditions.

Directions to trail head: From the San Bernardino Freeway (Interstate 10), exit on Mountain Avenue. Head north on Mountain, which joins Mt. Baldy Road in San Antonio Canyon and winds 12 miles to road’s end just beyond Manker Campground. Park in the ski-lift parking area.

Purchase a ticket ($6 round trip) and ride the lift up to Baldy Notch. The lift is operated weekends and holidays all year.

Another Route to Top

An alternative is to walk up a fire road to Baldy Notch. This option adds three miles each way and a 1,300-foot gain to the walk. The fire road switchbacks up the west side of steep San Antonio Canyon, offers a good view of San Antonio Falls, then climbs north to the top.

The Hike: From Baldy Notch, a wide gravel path leads to a commanding view of the desert. You then join a chair-lift access road/fire road and ascend a broad slope forested in Jeffrey pine and incense cedar. The road ends after about 1 miles at the top of a ski lift, where a hiker sign-in register beckons.

From the top of the ski lift, a trail leads out onto a sharp ridge known as the Devil’s Backbone. To the north, you can look down into the deep gorge of Lytle Creek and to the south into San Antonio Canyon. You’ll then pass around the south side of Mt. Harwood, or Little Baldy, and up through scattered stands of lodge pole pine.

The trail reaches a tempestuous saddle buffeted by wind. From the saddle, a steep rock-strewn pathway zigzags past a few wind-bowed limber pine to the summit.

Boulders are scattered atop Old Baldy’s crown. A couple of rock windbreaks offer some shelter. Enjoy the view of San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountain peaks, the Mojave and the metropolis, and return the same way.

MEANDERINGS: Mt. Baldy Ranger Station in Mt. Baldy Village is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (714) 982-2829. Should bad weather arise atop Old Baldy, rangers can suggest a number of lower elevation outings. If you wish to enter the nearby Cucamonga Wilderness, permits may be obtained at this ranger station.

Baldy Notch to Mt. Baldy summit: 7 miles round trip, 2,200-foot gain in elevation.