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HIKE 8

ALDER CREEK TO BARLEY FLATS

HIKE LENGTH: 7.5 miles round-trip; 2,100' elevation gain

DIFFICULTY: Moderate

SEASON: October–May

TOPO MAP: Chilao Flat

Features

Note: Barley Flats was heavily impacted by the 2009 Station Fire and as of this writing, spring 2013, remains closed to entry. Check with the US Forest Service to verify the current status of this area before attempting this hike.

Barley Flats is a prominent, forested ridge separating the watersheds of the Big Tujunga and West Fork. Not a true flats, it consists of a 2-mile-long rolling, forested plateau at an elevation of just over 5,000 feet.

The area has an interesting and varied past. As far back as the 1850s it was a well-known hideout for cattle rustlers and horse thieves, and it later became a favorite haunt of sportsmen and hunters. With the completion of the Shortcut Trail in 1893 (see Hike 53), Barley Flats was largely forgotten and fell into disuse. In the 1950s big changes arrived in the form of a Nike-Ajax antiaircraft missile site, one of several designed to serve as a defensive ring protecting the Los Angeles area. The administration buildings and facilities, still in good condition today, have served a variety of uses, functioning as a probation camp, search and rescue facility, and radio relay station.

You stand a good chance of having the trail to yourself; this Upper Big Tujunga–Alder Creek country is seldom traveled and is little known, having been largely bypassed by the Angeles Crest and Angeles Forest Highways. Don’t do it on a hot day; the first portion of the route is shadeless and steep.

Description

From La Cañada, drive up Angeles Crest Highway to Clear Creek Junction. Turn left onto Angeles Forest Highway and follow it north, passing the Big Tujunga Canyon Road, to the junction with the Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road. Turn right and follow it 4 miles to a dirt parking area along the right (south) side of the road, opposite a sign that says simply ALDER CREEK. Park along the highway. An alternate approach, from Foothill Boulevard in Sunland, is to drive up Oro Vista Avenue, which becomes Big Tujunga Canyon Road, and follow it to its junction with Angeles Forest Highway, and then the Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road. Be sure to display your Adventure Pass on your parked vehicle.

Walk down toward the creek bed and look for a metal pole; at this point cross the creek (dangerous after a major storm) and pick up the trail, overgrown in spots but passable, as it heads away from the creek and begins contouring up the chaparral-blanketed slopes. You soon come out onto a ridge and the trail steepens. Stop to rest often and enjoy the spectacular views, north into the Alder Creek drainage; east toward the rolling, forested Charlton Flat country; and west toward Strawberry Peak. After more steep climbing, you enter the welcome shade of a live oak forest, and continue for another mile through shady firs, Jeffrey pines, and Coulter pines to the paved Barley Flats Road, and the flats themselves, 3.7 miles from the start.

Return the way you came. With an 8-mile car shuttle between Alder Creek and Barley Flats, you can make it a one-way hike and halve the distance, starting at either end and hiking either uphill or downhill. The Barley Flats Road is located along Angeles Crest Highway, 4.9 miles past Red Box, just before the junction with the Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road. Look for the trailhead near the end of the paved road, 2.7 miles from the Angeles Crest, and park along the side.