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HIKE 9

BIG TUJUNGA TO TOM LUCAS TRAIL CAMP, BIG CIENAGA

HIKE LENGTH: 8 miles round-trip; 2,000' elevation gain

DIFFICULTY: Moderate

SEASON: November–June

TOPO MAPS: Sunland, Condor Peak

Features

Trail Canyon cuts a deep swath through the western front country of the San Gabriels. Steep, chaparral-blanketed ridges surround it on both sides, and the great arched head of Condor Peak looms high on the eastern skyline. The scenic highlight is Trail Canyon Falls, 2 miles up-canyon, a delicate ribbon of whitewater swishing 30 feet into a cool sanctuary of alders and ferns.

It is appropriate that the campground be named after Tom Lucas, one of the real pioneers of the Big Tujunga. “Barefoot Tom,” as he was known to his mountain friends, was one of the first forest rangers in the old San Gabriel Timberland Reserve, a grizzly bear hunter, and in his later years a rancher at the old Ybarra Ranch in the Big Tujunga. He knew the mountain country as few others did.

The canyon was once a lush and verdant oasis, until the 2009 Station Fire blackened the steep slopes and burned away much of the streamside greenery. It reopened to access in spring 2012 but is still undergoing repair. As of this writing in spring 2013, the trail is passable, but check with the US Forest Service to verify current conditions before attempting this hike. Note that Tom Lucas Trail Camp is closed pending repairs.

Description

From Foothill Boulevard in Sunland, drive 5 miles up Mount Gleason Avenue, which turns into Big Tujunga Canyon Road, to Upper Trail Canyon Road just prior to highway mileage marker 2.05. Turn left and drive up the winding dirt road to a junction, and then go right and down into Trail Canyon to a parking area beneath live oaks. Be sure to display your Adventure Pass on your parked vehicle.

Walk past the locked gate and follow the dirt road, passing some private cabins and crossing the creek on some well-placed planks. The old road climbs the east slope, then drops steeply back into the canyon, and ends. Ford the creek and pick up the trail as it threads its way up the boulder-filled canyon, crossing and recrossing the creek in foot-wetting fords. In 1 mile you reach a large, open bench on the left (west) side of the creek. Here, your trail leaves the creek and switchbacks steeply up to the left, and then climbs steadily up the slope to get around Trail Canyon Falls. In another 0.5 mile you round a sharp turn and then another turn, where the falls come into view, impressive as they plunge into the canyon depths below you. Just beyond where the trail again turns north, you will notice a narrow side path through the brush on which hikers have descended to the falls—very steep and loose footing. Continuing on the main trail, you drop back into the canyon above the falls and ford the creek again. Over the next 2 miles you follow the creek up-canyon, fording the stream several times, making your way around and through boulder fields, and reaching the old Tom Lucas campsite, no longer maintained by the US Forest Service. A mile beyond, where the canyon bends northward, your trail switchbacks up the slope, reapproaches the creek, crosses it, and reaches the new Tom Lucas Trail Camp—closed as of this writing in spring 2013—with picnic tables and cleared camping areas amid alders and oaks, 4 miles from the start. This area at the head of Trail Canyon Creek is known as Big Cienaga.

From the new Tom Lucas Trail Camp, the trail climbs, with several long switchbacks, to a branch of the Mendenhall Ridge fire road (see Hike 10), but you turn back at Big Cienaga.

As always, as you stroll down-canyon on the return trip, new vistas open up and you get a different perspective of the country. Most impressive, as you get back into the lower canyon, is the great buttress of Mount Lukens, towering on the southern skyline. This front-range country may be tamed and overrun by man, but it retains its rugged appeal. If it’s late afternoon, chances are that a purplish haze will be adding a mystical quality to the mountain landscape. Mount Lukens may be a shadowy ghost in the distance.

A scenic option, 14 miles altogether, is to follow the Trail Canyon Trail up to its end at the spur road southeast of Iron Mountain, follow the spur road to the main Mendenhall fire road, turn left (west) and follow the fire road 3 miles to the Yerba Buena Trail, descend the trail to Gold Creek Saddle, 2 miles, and then descend the Gold Canyon fire road to Upper Trail Canyon road and follow the road down to your car. Check with the US Forest Service before attempting this route.