Mount Gleason

Overview

A short stint on the Pacific Crest Trail to a mountain with a lot of history. A cool, shaded, north-face trail takes you to the summit’s old Nike Missile radio base. Unfortunately, the largest wildfire in modern Los Angeles County history has left most of this area in disrepair and inaccessible to hikers. IMPORTANT: Please note that the roads leading to this trailhead are still closed due to damage from the 2009 Station Fire and the trails themselves are in very poor condition. We strongly recommend you choose another trail to hike until repair crews have had their chance to maintain this trail. The trail begins just past a small metal gate at the northeast corner of a dirt parking area on the north side of the road and hooks up with the Pacific Crest Trail right away. The pine-lined path was shaded and cool, and starts off nice and level. The PCT is well cared-for and generally clear of debris. There are, however, several nice fallen trees on the sides of the trail. Eventually the trail does start to pick up a bit of elevation but it’s nothing too difficult. It is nice, however, to get out of the tree cover for a little while and see the stark transition the landscape makes – from desert to chaparral to pine. No matter how many times I see that, I’m always awestruck. The trail was remote but I still passed a few other hikers on the way in. One was a new family carting off their baby daughter (good to get started early) and another was a group of pole-hiking older folks, who looked like they were having a great time out in the woods. As the trail continues up the north side of Mount Gleason, it intersects what is either an old dirt road or the former grade of the PCT. The book I’d read about this trail said it was possible to take this old road down into the canyon below, where the remnants of several major gold mines still stood. I followed the grade down for a short while, but eventually it got overgrown and I lost the path. I suppose it may be possible to just scramble down into the canyon, but as I didn’t h

Trail Stats

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