The 51,000-acre Bridge Fire ripped through the Angeles National Forest in September 2024, destroying at least 39 homes and countless crucial wildlife habitats.
All trails to the summit of Mt. Baldy were closed following the fire, including Bear Canyon Trail, also dubbed Old Baldy Trail, the Ski Hut Trail and the Devil’s Backbone Trail to the summit.
Mt. Baldy, known as Mt. San Antonio, is the highest mountain in the San Gabriel Mountains at 10,064 feet above sea level. The mountain has earned a reputation as one of the deadliest mountains in the nation, according to the Los Angeles Times, which reports there have been more than 100 rescues for missing hikers since 2020 with six confirmed deaths.
On weekends, tens of cars overflow the trailhead parking lot whose owners are attempting to summit Los Angeles’s favorite mountain.
“So happy to be back home at Baldy,” said Felipe Godinez in the SoCal Hikers Facebook group. “I really enjoy this mountain hike after months of closure. It was good to see so many familiar faces on Ski Hut trail.”
Like Godinez, local Mt. Baldy hikers are thrilled to be back on their favorite trail. Baldy fan Sean Mulvihill hiked two days in a row right after the mountain’s reopening. “I missed it too much,” he told the Daily Press.
Only two of the three main trails to the summit are reopened as of Friday, May 23: Ski Hut Trail and Devil’s Backbone Trail. Bear Canyon Trail is still closed for hiking, as this area received the most fire damage in the Baldy area.
Ski Hut Trail
The Ski Hut Trail starts at Manker Flats at the top of Mt. Baldy Road just under the ski lifts. The trail is roughly 8 miles round-trip with almost 4,000 feet of elevation gain. The first half of the trail is covered by a layer of Jeffrey and Sugar pines with the forest green Ski Hut marking the halfway point.
The Sierra Club manages the hut and hosts occasional overnighters inside the forest cabin. Check the Sierra Club website for more information and to sign up.
The second half of the trail runs parallel to the Bear Canyon Trail and really starts to climb. The steepest sections of trail are toward the top, where exposed stretches switchback to a rocky 10,000-foot summit sandwiched between West Baldy and Mt. Harwood.
The Register Ridge Trail can also be accessed from the Ski Hut Trail. This trail is a few hundred feet steeper than the Ski Hut Trail and connects with the Devil’s Backbone for a calf-burning workout.
Devil’s Backbone Trail
The Devil’s Backbone Trail is the most notorious to the summit of Mt. Baldy. In the winter, it sees the most rescues due to the steep drop-offs on either side of the singletrack trail.
The trail is about 13.8 miles roundtrip and climbs 4,274 feet in elevation, passing the Mt. Baldy Ski Resort and The Notch restaurant about halfway up the mountain.
The Devil’s Backbone is the best trail to take other than Bear Canyon to see big horn sheep in the San Gabriel Mountains. They are often seen around the Mt. Harwood slopes that hikers pass on the quest to Baldy’s summit.
Hikers also have the option to complete a Baldy loop trail. Since the trailhead for both the Ski Hut and Devil’s Backbone trails is Manker Flats, hikers can ascend one route and descend the other back to where they started.
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McKenna is a reporter for the Daily Press. She can be reached at mmobley@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Mt. Baldy summit back open for hiking after a several-month closure following Bridge Fire
Reporting by McKenna Mobley, Victorville Daily Press / Victorville Daily Press
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