San Gabriel Valley Hike Has a Few Clear Views

When the light is harsh and the air is dirty, the foothills above the San Gabriel Valley seem a sight for sore eyes: fire-scarred, eroded, brush-smothered, laced with roads and power lines. But when the light is right and the air is clean, these flaws disappear and purple mountains beckon with the sweet smell of sage and the many winding trails.

One of those inviting trails leads up Bailey Canyon from the city of Sierra Madre. Bailey Canyon Trail doesn’t really go anywhere; it simply ascends halfway up the canyon to a viewpoint and dead-ends.

The attraction is the view: Clear-day vistas of the San Gabriel Valley are your reward for scaling the steep switchbacks. If you want to get a feel for the area’s geography, take a map along (the Auto Club’s San Gabriel Valley map is particularly good).

The San Gabriel Valley may not seem very “valley-like” to the commuter speeding along the Foothill Freeway. However, the valley, as a geographical entity, is much more apparent to the hiker standing on high.

To the geologist, the San Gabriel Valley is that area drained (or rather, once drained) by tributaries of the San Gabriel River. Nowadays, the river and its offshoots are tamed by concrete flood-control channels, but in geologic ages past, they spread the alluvium that now makes up the valley floor.

Hikers can also see more evidence that the valley is a valley; it’s surrounded by mountains. The San Gabriels border the valley on its northern edge, the Puente Hills on the south and southeast, the hills of Montebello and the San Rafael Hills on the west.

At the base of the San Gabriels are the cities of Sierra Madre, Monrovia, Duarte, Azusa and Glendora. These valley communities once formed one of the Southland’s famed citrus belts.

Today, when you look down at the San Gabriel Valley, it’s obvious that the Foothill Freeway (Interstate-210) is the main transportation corridor. But much earlier in this century, it was the Pacific Electric red cars that linked these rural suburbs to Los Angeles and the rest of Southern California.

Most of what you see of the San Gabriel Valley from Bailey Canyon Trail is commercial and residential. However, there are two significant splotches of green almost due south of the canyon: the Los Angeles County Arboretum and the Santa Anita Golf Course. Between the green is Santa Anita Race Track.

In 1875, this canyon on the outskirts of Sierra Madre was homesteaded by R.J. Bailey, who left little behind but his name. The canyon, in its early, wild days, was worked by local trappers, who snared fox and coyote and shipped the pelts to furriers in Chicago. Bailey sold his property in 1881 to Palmer Reed, a clerk at the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel.

Over the years the property was divided. The Sierra Madre Municipal Water Co. acquired part of the canyon, as did the Passionist Fathers, who built a monastery. The Carter family owned the lower part of the canyon, and in 1965 donated land to the city of Sierra Madre for Bailey Canyon Park. For quite some time, the path leading up Bailey Canyon was known as the Carter Trail.

The trail has for several decades been something of an orphan. Angeles National Forest officials have paid scant attention to what is depicted as Trail 11W11 on their map. Boy Scouts and conservation groups have pitched in with periodic maintenance, but the trail is neglected and it shows. No trail signs are in evidence, and some of the switchbacks are badly eroded.

Bailey Canyon Trail begins just one mile west of one of the Southland’s most famous foot paths--the Mt. Wilson Trail. Hikers have long dreamed of extending Bailey Canyon Trail and connecting it with the trail to Wilson. (Easier said than done, as a hike up Bailey Canyon will make abundantly clear.)

Bailey Canyon is in the bureaucratic pipeline for state funds, and hikers hope that before too many years pass, their dream of a reworked--and extended--trail will become a reality.

Directions to trail head: From the Foothill Freeway in Arcadia, take the Rosemead Boulevard/Michillinda exit and head north on Michillinda. Continue a bit more than a mile to Grand View Avenue, turn right and proceed a few blocks to Grove Street. Follow Grove to its end at Bailey Canyon Park. There’s ample parking here.

The hike: Angle northwest through the park’s picnic area and proceed through an ancient turnstile to a road leading past a checkdam. The road peters out and you join a trail alongside the Bailey Canyon creek bed. Some maps call this part of the canyon bottom Bailey Canyon Wilderness Park. In fact, it’s far from a wilderness, but there are trees here, offering just about the last shade you’ll find en route.

The trail begins its no-nonsense climb and, after a couple of switchbacks, it’s goodby shade, hello steep ascent. Sitting below, adding a touch of European style, is the Passionist Fathers Retreat, a monastery.

Many a switchback takes you up the steep, brushy east wall of the canyon and then north, higher and higher into the San Gabriel Mountains. Near trail’s end, Bailey Canyon narrows.

At the head of the canyon is a grove of oak and bay. From the stone foundation of an old cabin, you can contemplate the mountains above, the San Gabriel Valley below. In the late afternoon or early morning, you might spot deer traveling through the canyon.

Want to learn more about San Gabriel Valley ecology? The Duarte Parks and Recreation Dept. is hosting Family Wilderness Adventure Day on March 16. The event includes a barbecue, nature displays and music. Entry fee, including lunch, is $8 for adults, $5 for children. A nature walk begins at 9 a.m. For more information, call (818) 357-7931.

HIKING / San Gabriel Mountains Baily Canyon Trail * Where: Baily Canyon Park, Sierra Madre, Angeles National Forest. * Distance: 5 miles round trip with 1,300-foot elevation gain. * Terrain: Steep, brush-covered foothills. * Highlights: San Gabriel Valley views. * Degree of Difficulty: Moderate to challenging. * Precautions: Steep, eroded trail, narrow in places. * For More Information: Call Angeles National Forest at (818) 574-1613.