Getting There

Estimated trip mileage: 95 miles

Estimated trip time: 4-5 hours (doesn't account for extended stops)

To start the trip, take your favorite route to Wrightwood. For those that have not been to Wrightwood, here are the directions: from the SVL entrance, turn right (west) onto Bear Valley Road. Head to I-15 and take it southbound towards San Bernardino. Take the next exit, which is Main Street, and then turn right (west). From I-15, continue on Main Street, through the town of Phelan, for 11.8 miles. Then, turn left (south) at the traffic light at Beekley Road. You will reach the next traffic light in about 1 mile which will be Hwy 138. Turn left (southeast). Stay on Hwy 138 for 1.9 miles or until the next traffic light – the junction with Hwy 2. Turn right (west). Continue on Hwy 2 to the town of Wrightwood.

Wrightwood

Once in Wrightwood, you may wish to explore the two block downtown area. This is located on Park Drive, the wide street on the left of Hwy 2 just after passing the Jensons market on the right. By the way, just like the Jensons in Lake Arrowhead, this Jensons has a great deli and bakery section where you can buy a sandwich to take with you and eat at any of the picnic areas along the way. There are also numerous eateries on or close to Park Drive.

Big Pines

Blue Ridge

Past the five-point intersection, Inspiration Point (also known as Lightning Ridge) is reached in 1.8 miles. This is one of the largest viewpoints along the entire length of Angeles Crest Highway. Turnouts on both side of the highway allow you to park your vehicle and enjoy the vistas. When we visited here in July, we were able to see Catalina Island – some 80 miles distant. The large canyon just to the south of the viewpoint is the east fork of the San Gabriel River. A significant gold rush occurred here starting in 1870 and dragged on until 1940. An information sign here points out all the places of interest. The large peak to your right is Mt. Baden-Powell, named after the founder of the Boy Scouts, and is the second highest peak in the San Gabriels. The highest “bald” peak to the left is Mt. Baldy, the highest peak in the San Gabriels. Both peaks are easily visible from SVL.

Just before reaching the turnouts, look for the turnoff to East Blue Ridge Road (F.R. 3N06) on the left. This is our first side trip off of Hwy 2. This narrow forestry road ventures about 12 miles into the rugged San Gabriel Mountains. The first 3 miles is a mixture of broken and good asphalt, whereas the remaining distance is dirt. As its name implies, the road follows what is known as Blue Ridge. Along the way, there are great views in all directions. The road also passes through two of the Mountain High ski resorts as it passes underneath chairlifts. You can actually drive on the same spots where snow-skiers dash downhill during the winter months. The road will continue all the way to the bottom of the San Gabriel River Canyon, but the forestry service doesn’t always have this last portion open.

Blue Ridge Campgound is the first campground encountered at three miles in from Hwy 2. It is located in a heavily forested area next to the top of the Mountain High East. There are usually more people camping here.

Guffy Campground, about six miles in, is a great spot to have a picnic. This campground typically has fewer inhabitants than the first. A half mile past Guffy, a fork in the road is reached. Going left (F.R. 3N06) will continue the drive along Blue Ridge. Going right (F.R. 3N39) will descend into the San Gabriel River Canyon and to a place labeled Cabin Flat on the map. 3N39 is often closed with a locked gate a short distance from this point. If you continue on 3N06, the infamous Wrightwood slides are encountered 1.5 miles from Guffy. These large scars on the north side of Blue Ridge were created by a series of large landslides. The last one occurred in 1969. A significant slide occurred in 1941. These slides, which are still active, were triggered by both heavy rainfall events and movement along the San Andreas Fault. Similar to the warning we always hear about earthquakes, it is only a matter of time when Wrightwood experiences another devastating landslide. 3N06 ends about a mile past the landslide. There is a trailhead for strenuous hike to Mt. Baldy along the way.

Vincent Gap

When you are done exploring Blue Ridge, return to Hwy 2 and turn left (west). In 0.6 miles, the Grassy Hollow visitor’s center is reached. Here is another picnic area, campground and restrooms. As of this writing, the center is open Saturday, Sunday and holidays from 10 to 4. The rangers that work here can certainly provide you with a lot more information than we can!

Continuing west on Hwy 2 from Grassy Hollow, Vincent Gap is reached. If you wish to take the hike to the Big Horn Mine, park your vehicle in the parking lot on the left. Hwy 2 was closed due to serious road damage from this point starting in 2004 and travel to La Canada was not possible until just a few months before this writing.

Hiking opportunities from the Vincent Gap parking lot include the Big Horn Mine (explained under The Hike section), a thigh-burning jaunt to 9,399 foot Mt. Baden-Powell and a trail down to Mine Gulch. Baden-Powell is an 8 mile round trip hike with an elevation gain of 2,800 feet. Mine Gulch is typically 4.5 miles one way, but backpackers take it all the way down to the San Gabriel Canyon, spending one or more nights. It offers access to the various mines and ruins from the aforementioned gold rush.

Named after the founder of the Big Horn Mine, Vincent Gap was an important pass that was originally used in the later half of the 1800s. It was an alternate route to the mines in Mine Gulch and the San Gabriel River Canyon and later a haul road for the Big Horn Mine. The road came up from Palmdale and followed the path that you will later take along Big Rock Creek Road. At Vincent Gap, it crossed what is now Hwy 2 and then followed the hiking trail used to get to the Big Horn Mine.

Big Rock Creek

When you are finished with the Vincent Gulch area, cross Hwy 2 from the parking lot and head down the dirt road labeled 4N11. This dirt road lasts for just under 2 miles and is very steep. When we traveled it, it was passable for normal automobiles but it had quite a bit of washboard on it, so remember to go slow unless you would like to turn your vehicle into a rattle-trap! As this road descends into Fenner Canyon, be sure to look up to your left to see the engineering efforts used to attach Hwy 2 onto the side of the mountains. You should also be able to spot the new bridge for Hwy 2 built during its closure in 2004.

4N11 ends at Camp Fenner, which is a State Prison used for housing inmates that are used by the forestry service for various tasks. Here, the road turns to pavement and is called Big Rock Creek Road. Continue on this road down the canyon. You will notice that the mountainous vegetation slowly changes to desert-like.

About 2 miles from Camp Fenner, the small village of Paradise Springs will be seen on the left. There are several residences located here and a Christian retreat camp. From the 1920s until the ‘60s, Paradise Springs was a retreat for the Hollywood elite. Famous actors such as W.C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin and John Wayne frequently stayed at this hidden encampment.

A dirt road leads to the left about 1.3 miles past Paradise Springs (3.3 miles from Camp Fenner). It is a sharp left turn. The road leads south back into the mountains and up a canyon. The road ends after about one mile. This area offers a campground and some nice hiking trails that goes further into the canyon or to neighboring Devils Punchbowl Park. You cannot drive to Devils Punchbowl from here; only hike.

Continuing down the canyon, between 3.6 and 5 miles from Camp Fenner, the road passes through a forest of sycamore and cottonwood trees starting at the appropriately named Sycamore Flats Campground. This is a wonderful spot to drive through in November when these trees are bright yellow. A good-flowing creek can be seen on the left side of the road. In many places, people have dammed the creek with rocks so that they can be enjoyed as small swimming holes.

Big Pines Highway

Big Rock Creek Road ends 5.6 miles from Camp Fenner on Big Pines Hwy. Turn right (east). This road heads back to Big Pines, near where the trip started. The road follows a long narrow valley which is the San Andreas Fault rift zone. Several small lakes will be seen along this portion of the trip and were formed by the fault. Geologists refer to these lakes as “sag ponds”. They form when spring water cannot penetrate the impermeable clays inside the fault zone, so the water simply surfaces and accumulates into the lakes seen now. Caldwell Lake, a sag pond, is reached 4.3 miles from the last turn.

Mile High, a small village with a restaurant and a few ranches, is reached at 4.8 miles from the intersection. The elevation here is 5,280 feet – hence the name. Here, if you are tired of the mountain driving, you can turn left (north) onto Largo Vista Road which will quickly take you to Hwy 138 where you can turn right and then follow Hwy 18 into Victorville and on to SVL. Otherwise, continue straight on Big Pines Hwy.

At 3.6 miles from Mile High, Jackson Lake is reached. This is a fairly big sag pond compared to other sag ponds along this portion of the San Andreas. Jackson Lake is a popular attraction and is popular to fishing pole owners. Unfortunately, it also has claimed many lives over the years as people visiting the lake in the winter venture out onto the frozen lake and promptly fall through the ice.

Our trip ends 6.5 miles from Mile High at the five-point intersection at Big Pines.  From here, retrace your original route through Wrightwood, Phelan and back to SVL.

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