Banking on the Beauty of the Upper Santa Ana River

For most of its length, Southern California’s largest river is not a thing of beauty. Concrete-lined and channelized, the Santa Ana River that crosses Orange County is a thoroughly domesticated watercourse. Its once-extensive riverbed has been covered with subdivisions, its natural course altered for human convenience. Glimpsing the river as it passes Costa Mesa back yards, Anaheim Stadium or the Interstate 10-Interstate 15 interchange does not in truth inspire further exploration.

Fortunately for hikers and nature lovers, there’s another Santa Ana River, unfettered and unchanneled. At its headwaters high in the San Bernardino Mountains, the river waters a beautiful meadow and cuts through a deep canyon that separates the high peaks of the San Gorgonio Wilderness from the mountains of the Big Bear Lake area. The river, born of natural springs and snowmelt, is in its upper reaches an important wildlife habitat.

A 4 1/2-mile length of the Santa Ana River Trail, which explores the river’s headwaters, was completed in the summer of 1987. Ambitious plans are afoot for the trail, which one day may descend all the way from the San Bernardino Mountains to the sea. The idea is to connect the famed Pacific Crest Trail with Southern California’s coastline.

Equestrian groups have been especially vocal in boosting a “crest to coast” route. The lower part of the trail, which follows the concrete channel from the river mouth inland to Yorba Linda at the base of the Chino Hills, is popular with cyclists and equestrians; it’s not exactly a thrill a minute for walkers.

For hikers, the true Santa Ana River Trail begins in an area of the San Bernardino National Forest called Heart Bar, first settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1850s. During the latter part of the 19th Century and the first half of this one, cattlemen sent their herds to graze the lush Santa Ana River meadows. It was one cattleman’s brand, a heart with a bar beneath it, that gave the land its name about a century ago.

Santa Ana River Trail parallels the river as it winds from South Fork Campground to Heart Bar Campground. The path stays in piney woods for most of its length. A few side trails allow passage down to the river.

Directions to trailhead: From Interstate 10 in Redlands, take the California 38 exit and proceed north 32 miles to South Fork Campground. Almost opposite the entrance to the campground, on the north side of California 38, you’ll find the new Santa Ana River trailhead parking lot and the signed trail.

Santa Ana River Trail ends at Forest Road 1N021, near Heart Bar Campground. The campground is closed for repairs and will not reopen until the spring of 1989. If you want to make a one-way hike, you can arrange to have transportation waiting at the Forest Road 1N021 trailhead. To reach this trailhead from the South Fork Campground trailhead, you would continue east on California 38 to the signed Heart Bar Campground turnoff, then drive a mile past the campground on the dirt Forest Road 1N021 to the second signed Santa Ana River trailhead.

The Hike: From the parking area opposite South Fork Campground, Santa Ana River Trail meanders by its namesake, then veers under the Santa Ana River Bridge. Notice the rugged construction of the bridge and the wide bed of the river, two indications of the Santa Ana’s size and strength after a storm.

The trail makes a short circle, reaches a second signed trailhead at the entrance to South Fork Campground and heads west. Switchbacking up a slope, the trail soon turns east--your direction for the rest of this hike.

During the first mile you will intersect a number of dirt roads, but strategically placed signs keep you on the path. Most of the climbing is in the first mile.

The trail travels through a mixed forest of ponderosa and Jeffrey pine, white fir and black oak. Ground squirrels are abundant and deer are seen occasionally. Steller’s jays, Western bluebirds, pygmy nuthatches, robins and juncoes are among the birds you may see.

Above you to the southwest is the San Gorgonio Wilderness, dominated by its 11,502-foot signature peak, highest point in Southern California. To the north, above the forested canyon of the Santa Ana River, is Sugarloaf Mountain (9,952 feet), highest peak in the San Bernardino outside the wilderness.

About the trail’s midpoint you will spot Heart Bar Station, headquarters for a Forest Service fire crew. Continuing east, the trail offers great views of well-named Big Meadow. Watering the meadow are Heart Bar Creek, Coon Creek, Cienega Seca Creek and the headwaters of the Santa Ana. Big Meadow is especially pretty when a breeze sways the willows and tall grasses. During late spring and summer the meadow is splashed with colorful Indian paintbrush, purple sage, columbine, monkey flower and lupine.

The meadows where cattle once grazed are now a valuable habitat for rabbits, foxes, skunks and raccoons. California golden beaver were brought to the area, and several pairs of them maintain dams on the Santa Ana River.

About a mile from trail’s end you will intersect an unsigned side trail leading left down to Big Meadow and over to Heart Bar Campground. Continue straight at this junction to the end of the trail at Forest Road 1N021.

Santa Ana River Trail South Fork Campground to Heart Bar Campground: 9 miles round trip; 800-foot elevation gain.