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 Reporter |
Summary: This is a good hike. It is perfect for a quick half day, or just a short little outing. Even during the winter, if the snow is light, and you are itching for the high country, you can trek up to the saddle if you are careful on the ice. The trail itself follows a lovely stream for more than 2 miles, and by the tme the creek views end, you are already gaining high country vistas, pine forest and upward glances at Baldy, Bighorn and Ontario Peak. I am particularly jealous of the cabin owners along the first mile of the path. This is a good training hike for more strenuous outdoor activity. You can bring along young people and see how well they respond. It's perfect if you're building strength for longer journeys. Or, if you just want a nice place to hang out, pick a spot. You can also just turn around when you tire. The only problem with this trail is the overuse, I saw 58 people on my winter outing, and for some reason, that doesn't seem like wilderness to me. Trailhead: Take the 60,10, or 210 to Mountain Avenue in Upland/Ontario, exit and travel north (head toward the mountains, you can't miss them.) Follow Mountain as it turns from a monster business avenue into a residental road. It will veer to the left and join Euclid, follow the curve. Stay on this road until you come to Mt. Baldy Road, here you will need to make a right. Follow it past the Trout Pond, and look for the sign for Icehouse Canyon. Continue straight to the parking lot. From the main road you actually make a right turn, but you head straight in. Park in the huge lot - this trail gets LOTS of usage - too much in my opinion. (Lat:34.23899 Lon:-117.59435) Trail Guides for Icehouse Canyon to Icehouse Saddle: Trails of the Angeles - 100 Hikes in the San Gabriels by John W. Robinson (Wilderness Press) California Hiking by Tom Sinestra and Ann Marie Brown (Avalon Travel) Day Hikers Guide to Southern California by John McKinney (Olympus Press) Best Seasons: Year-Round User Groups: Hikers, Dogs, Horses, Ranger Contact: Angeles National Forest (909) 982-2829 Localhikes Reporter: This hike was submitted by Allen Riedel, who has posted 123 other hikes on this site. To visit this reporters web site, click here. Trail Reviews Page 1 of 7 Submit your own review 
Reviewed by Greg A. on 6/7/2008 Hiked on June 7th, fantastic weather. Our team of 5 hit the saddle on route to Cucamonga Peak (Whitney Training). The Saddle offers a great number of hiking options for all levels of hikers. You can kick you butts like we did doing Cucamonga, or do several other similar peaks. Next time I go back I need to go after the 3 T's. 
Reviewed by Robert on 6/2/2008 Just hiked this trail yesterday, (5-1-08) as a training hike to prepare for Mt. Whitney on July 12 of this year. This hike was beautiful from the start. Great scenery, perfect weather, not to heavily traveled on this day. One recommendation is to take the longer return route at the 3 mile marker. This trail back to the main trail head is far superior being that it takes you higher along the canyon walls, affording you great views of the canyon and distant city. We will definitely be hiking this one again soon.
Reviewed by halohiker on 5/29/2008 We did a loop (Icehouse/Chapman) on Tuesday, May 27. There was snow on the trail, but conditions were safe. We made it to the saddle without a problem.
Reviewed by Carol on 5/5/2008 I prefer to take the Chapman trail up and come down the canyon. Impressed with the ranger's trail maintenance.
Reviewed by Kelly on 5/3/2008 Loved the hike! Beautiful waterfalls and a lot of great scenery. We hiked this on 4/30 and there was still some snow on the saddle, a day that was over 100 degrees in Orange County! This is a challenging hike for beginners, but a wonderful hike to get warmed up for a destination hike. I would highly recommend checking this trail out!
Reviewed by SB on 4/14/2008 Very nice training hike for a later Baldy trip, but not too tough. Still some snow on the trail up near the saddle. We had some fun playing in it since we escaped the hot LA weather for the day. As other reviewers have stated, this trail is very populated. We must have seen over 50 people and the parking lot was full at 10 am. We are planning on returning and continuing on to one of the peaks in the vicinity.
Reviewed by Viewer on 2/9/2008 Hiked 2/7/08. Started @7:45am. Nice cold morning. Trail got icy about 1/4 mile past Cucamonga wilderness sign, crampon made things easy. My first time to reach the Ice house saddle. Got to the saddle around 10:30. Lots of ice balls falling down from the slope. Can't find the sign to point to Cucamonga peak so I was trailblazing my way up the Cucamonga peak on the North East face of the peak. Noticed lots of snow drifts so I sticked to go along the pine tree slope. Got to the summit of Cucamonga peak at 12pm. Snapped a few pictures with the dead old bristle cone pine trees and headed down. Back to the parking at 2:30pm. Saw only one couples made their way to the saddle. Nice sunny day snow hike in S. California
Reviewed by Koji Kabuto on 12/28/2007 Dec-22'07 started @630am First 2 mi passable w/intermittent slippery ice (not snow)in the middle of trail, walk on the gravel margins. Between Mile-2 to mile-3.6 Saddle, mostly 1 inch thick ice, w/occasional non-ice patches. I put ice crampons. ran into 15 elderly asians. Saddle windy as always, but add to that that the weather forecast was 15F. dressed in layers and wind breaker w/gloves. blue skies. only drank 65 oz. did a lot of photography at dawn, slow pace, averaged 1 mile per hour. look into canyons & the wash see notice some rusty barrels from back before the cabins burned and washed away, and the rare machinery from the gold mining days. cold weather means no insects. in the afternoon 20 daylaborer being loud near the parking lo Notice: Traveling in the backcountry can be hazardous. You are responsible for informing yourself about these hazards and taking necessary precautions. Information on this web site comes from volunteer reporters and may contain errors or omissions. A current guidebook and proper equipment are essential for safe enjoyment of the hikes posted on this site. Keys: California Hiking, California Trails, California Hikes, Los Angeles County Hiking, Los Angeles County Trails, Los Angeles County Hikes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||