Mount Baldy (Mt. San Antonio)
San Gabriel Mountains (above LA) · near Mount Baldy Village / Claremont · Los Angeles / SoCal
Hiking · Nordic & Snowshoe
At a glance
- Difficulty
- expert
- Route type
- loop
- Distance
- 11 miles
- Elevation gain
- 3,900 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- Summer–fall snow-free (June–October) · Winter requires ice axe & crampons
- Best season
- Jan–Mar after storms; variable snow (~6,500–10,064 ft)
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- National Forest Adventure Pass for parking ($5/day). No hiking permit. WINTER WARNING: Baldy becomes a serious mountaineering objective with snow/ice — people die here every winter. Summer is a strenuous but non-technical hike.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 1 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Highest peak in LA County (10,064ft) · Devil's Backbone ridge · Ski Hut Trail grind · 360° views to the ocean & desert · The San Gabriels' crown
- Activities
- snowshoe · backcountry
- Setting
- summit
- Amenities
- High San Gabriel snowscape · Backcountry snowshoe & touring · Summit objectives to 10,064 ft · Close to Los Angeles
- Best for
- Backcountry snow near the city
- Features
- 10,064-ft San Gabriel summit · Backcountry near LA · Big snowy terrain · Ski-lift access lower down
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
- Hazards
- Serious avalanche & fall terrain up high · Icy, wind-scoured slopes · Storm-dependent, variable snow · Mountaineering skills & gear for the summit
Guides, rentals and operators
- Rentals
- Yes
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- Mount Baldy Village is about 45 minutes from Pasadena via the 210 freeway. The ski lift can shorten the hike and the lodge has food. In winter this is NOT a casual hike — it requires mountaineering gear and experience. The San Gabriels hold many other classics (Cucamonga Peak, Mount Wilson); Baldy is the king.
Nordic & Snowshoe detail
- Venue
- backcountry
- Ability
- advanced
- Snow
- 3
- Trail notes
- Snowshoe and backcountry-tour the high San Gabriels above LA — from Baldy village and the ski lifts toward the 10,000-foot summit, big snowy terrain a stone's throw from the city
- Terrain note
- ~6,500–10,064 ft; ungroomed backcountry; variable, wind-affected snow
- Intl tip
- Mount Baldy (Mount San Antonio), at 10,064 ft the highest San Gabriel peak, offers surprisingly big backcountry snowshoeing and ski touring astonishingly close to LA. From Baldy village and the ski lifts, routes climb through forest toward the Baldy Bowl and summit — a genuinely alpine, wind-scoured world within sight of the city. Lower forest suits snowshoers; the upper mountain is serious mountaineering. SoCal snow is variable, storm-dependent, often icy/wind-affected. The upper mountain holds real avalanche and fall hazard (the Baldy Bowl has seen fatalities) — the summit needs ice axe, crampons, skills, and judgment. Respect it.
The guide
Mount Baldy — officially Mount San Antonio — is the highest peak in Los Angeles County at 10,064 feet and the crown of Southern…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Mount Baldy (Mt. San Antonio) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.289, -117.646