Smith Mountain via Upper Bear Creek

Angeles National Forest, CA San Gabriel + San Bernardino Mountains

Trip stats

Distance
6.7 mi
Net Gain
1,900 ft
Time
3-5 hrs
YDS Rating
Class 2
Route
Out/Back
Peaks
1

Ratings out of 10

Effort
3.4/10
Personality
6/10
Beauty
6/10
Solitude
3.4/10
What do these mean? →

Peaks on this hike

Summits listed in route order

  1. Smith Mountain
    5,111′ elevation · 831′ prominence

Route map + Trailhead

Trailhead Coordinates

34.287341, -117.842884

The directions link below drops a pin on the trailhead coordinates and lets Google Maps pick the route. If the drive has rough roads or access issues that GPS nav might get wrong, I cover that in my trip report.

Get directions (opens Google Maps in a new tab)

Trip report

May 18, 2017 — Smith Mountain is a relatively minor summit in the San Gabriel Mountains, but it has a nice Class 2 scramble, a somewhat rare occurence in these sandy mountains. From the Upper Bear Creek Trailhead, a nice trail winds around the sandy hills in the way most San Gabriel Mountains trails do, following the flow of the arroyos that cut through the mountains to create a nice winding and moderate grade. The trail reached the saddle north of Smith Mountain, where a social trail leads steeply along the northern slope of the peak, including a short Class 2 scramble below the summit. I continued past the Smith Mountain summit to get some more views along the ridgeline.

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Photos

14 photos

  1. The trail parallels the road for a bit as you gain some elevation.
  2. After turning away from the road, you can see Smith Mountain in the distance.
  3. Looking back toward the trailhead (my little orange Subie is over there).
  6. The trail tediously follows the flow of the mountain, causing for lots of back and forth around canyons. You can hike for a while, look over, and see where you were just across the canyon, which makes the hike seem a bit slow-moving.
  7. Approaching the saddle.
  8. View from the saddle.
  9. At the saddle, looking up toward the steep section toward the summit. To this point, it has been remarkable tame in terms of steepness.
  10. Mini-scramble. Low class 2.
  11. View from halfway up.
  12. Almost at the summit.
  13. View from close to the summit, looking north.
  14. Summit view looking south.

Photo 1 of 1

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Hire or refer me as a web developer, or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so it's funded by yours truly. It also takes a ton of work to edit photos and write these reports. I really appreciate it!

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