Mt Baldy Cedar Glen Hike



If you are an Inland Empire resident, and you have friends that live in Los Angeles proper, Mt Baldy is a good compromise as it is smack dab in the middle between the Inland Empire and Los Angeles.  It's part of the Angeles National Forest, and provides enough challenge that you can use these trails as base building training hikes for higher elevation hikes in the San Bernardino NF or the San Gorgonio Wilderness.



Our target destination was the Cedar Glen Campground.  Cedar Glen is a little valley between ridges, and is a great place to camp for the night.  There are many trees for shade and tarp/tent support.  No facilities, so pack your own water and toilet paper. This is a lower elevation hike, and some parts of the trail are southern exposed, which makes for direct sunlight. Luckily for us, it started off as a cool morning. Beatriz and I both brought our dogs.  Jake, as usually, VERY curious and energetic, loves hiking with Mikey.  We were expecting a 3rd person, but waited as long as we could at the Visitors center.  They didn't show. So we grabbed a trail map from the center, hopped in the car, and made our way to the Icehouse Canyon trailhead.

The trail is rocky!  You should consider wearing a sturdy pair of hiking boots on this hike.  I had brought dog booties for Jake just in case.

The initial phase of the hike took us up these rock stairs, cut into the rock on the trail. We hiked up until it plateaued into a single-track packed dirt trail.  It weaves along the side of the canyon until you get to the fork. This is actually where we met our 3rd person. They started without us!  Good thing they didn't know where they were going and decided to turn around.  We met right at the fork, where the cabin (I don't know who owns it) is.

If you continue straight on the trail at this point, it takes you up along the side of the canyon, and through to Icehouse saddle.  We took the left fork, which brought us up across the ridge and over into the little glen between ridges.  Along this route the trail meanders along a hidden creek.  The only way we knew it was there, were the tall grasses and the insects! The overgrown grass would cover the trail at times, but it was not hard to follow. There are also rock fields that need to be crossed. These aren't huge rock fields, you just have to traverse a pile of rocks, probably 20 feet wide (not to mention watch your footing).  

The irony of it is that I sprained my ankle during this hike.  Not on a rock field, but near the end of the hike, going down the rock steps.  UGH, what a nightmare.  Thank goodness we were almost done.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  In about a week and a half, I was out doing a full moon hike with another group....but that's another story.

As an intro to hiking the Baldy area, I would recommend this hike.  It's not strenuous.  I would classify it as beginner level, because there is no altitude or strenuous climbing.  Total length, about 5 miles roundtrip.  The views from the ridge, before turning in toward Cedar Glen, are very nice.

Happy trekking!!