Cucamonga Peak via Ice House Canyon Trail hike
Summary and Stats
Location: Cucamonga Peak, Cucamonga Wilderness area, San Gabriels, Angeles National Forest
Length: 14.4 mi (longer route), 12 mi (via ice house canyon trail out and back)
Total Ascent: 4,337 ft.
Difficulty: Hard
Total Time: 7:01 hrs (moving), 7:57 hrs (total)
Starting Elevation: 4,947 ft.
Highest Elevation: 8,862 ft.
Date of the hike: August 7, 2020
The hike to Cucamonga Peak is a challenging and fun hike. At the peak, one can get panoramic views looking south at the Los Angeles area sprawl from the San Gabriels. I loved the view of the surrounding peaks, it’s beautiful to see so many mountain ranges from the peak. It is one of the Six Pack of Peaks of Southern California. This is a long hike and should carry a lot of water and electrolytes to keep hydrated. I usually carry 3L of water and 0.5L of electrolyte solution. The temperatures for us got as high as 80 F, and I wouldn’t have mind an extra pack of electrolytes.
The hike is usually 12 mi. via Ice House Canyon Trail. However, during the descent, we decided to take the Chapman trail, which added 2.5mi to the hike.
Resources
AllTrails: I track all my hikes on AllTrails.
HikingGuy usually has a very informative write up on major trails that can be used for full planning and more details.
Getting to the trailhead
Address: Icehouse Canyon Trailhead, Ice House Canyon Rd, Mt Baldy, CA 91759
The parking lot is a decent size, but gets full pretty quickly. You need a parking permit or can buy the National Park Pass. We did the hike on a Friday and started at 7a. There was a plenty of parking available at that time. Also, being a long hike, I always prefer to start as early as possible.
The Hike
We started at 7a. It was a cooler day with a good breeze, but no cloud cover. So we knew it was going to get warmer as the day passed. We took the Ice House Canyon Trail to the Ice House Canyon Saddle, and then the Cucamonga Peak trail to the peak.
This is a long and challenging hike. So it is advisable to pack enough snacks and water. I have started taking a jelly and cheese sandwich, and packed some nuts and a few Larabars.
The path is pretty rocky in portions. There are parts of the trail that has a lot of gravel and one has to be careful with the grip. However, the views are beautiful. As you start the hike, you will pass through a few cabins, as well as the remains of many more that have been destroyed by flood or fire over the years. You can read more about the history of the Ice House Canyon in this blog. This trail starts out along a Ice House Creek that runs above ground for a relatively short section.
Ice House Saddle is a good break point in the hike. It is about 3.5mi from the trailhead. It is a junction of 5 trails separate trails. The Cucamonga Peak is 2.4 mi from here.
The last half a mile is a bit more steep and gets a little more difficult. We were rewarded with some wonderful views towards the east of the mountains (we could see the Cajon Pass on I-15). The hike goes through some beautiful forestation that we enjoyed.
Once at the peak, you get a panoramic view of the Inland Empire, can see the Saddleback mountain, Mt. Baldy and other neighboring peaks to the south and to the east. We reached the peak around 10:45a, it took us 3h 45 mins to ascend to the peak. We roamed around, took some pictures and enjoyed our lunch.
Around 11:20a, we started our descent. The weather was getting warmer. On our way back, with about 3mi remaining on the Ice House Canyon trail, we decided to take the alternate route that forks from this one — the Chapman Trail. It added about 2.5 mi to our hike and provided us some alternate views. This trail is narrower and we had to cross over some rocks along the way. We were back to the trailhead just before 3p. It took us a total of 8 hours, and we were pretty drained and sore. We felt pretty satisfied with our day and definitely enjoyed the hike and the time at the top.
