Devil's Punchbowl (Devil's Chair)
Pearblossom, high-desert slope of the San Gabriels · near Pearblossom · Los Angeles / SoCal
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Route type
- out-and-back
- Distance
- 7.5 miles
- Elevation gain
- 1,000 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- Spring and fall · Brutally hot in summer, can snow in winter
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- Los Angeles County Natural Area — free entry and parking; no Adventure Pass required. A short 1-mile interpretive loop also drops into the punchbowl.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 0 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Tilted sandstone rock formations · San Andreas Fault geology · Devil's Chair railed overlook · Nature center & raptor viewing
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- This is high desert — go in spring or fall and start early; there's little shade and summer temperatures are dangerous. The short loop is family-friendly; the Devil's Chair is the scenic payoff.
The guide
A geologic showstopper on the desert side of the range, where the San Andreas Fault has uplifted and tilted vast slabs of sands…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Devil's Punchbowl (Devil's Chair) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.4166, -117.8666