Ice House Canyon to Baldy Notch via Telegraph Peak

Telegraph Peak is one of numerous peaks in the San Gabriel Mountains within the Cucamonga Wilderness that can be accessed from either the Icehouse Canyon Trailhead or Baldy Notch (which is one of the starting points for the very popular Mount Baldy hike). I knew that the all the routes to Mount Baldy were closed due to a recent wildfire, which destroyed more than 30 homes and burnt about 49,000 acres. What I wasn’t expecting was that as one of the few trails in the area that was still open, the Icehouse Canyon Trail would be popular. Very popular. I’ve never parked so far away from a trailhead, and was dreading encountering a queue of people along the trail. However, I’m not sure where they all went… perhaps because of my relatively late start, I only saw a handful of hikers as a I set out along the trail.

Icehouse Canyon Trail to Icehouse Saddle

The Icehouse Canyon Trail follows Icehouse Creek up Icehouse Canyon: “a beautiful wooded stream-driven section of the forest near Mt. Baldy Village”. It passes a number of remote cabins that seem to be still in use, as well as many the remnants of many more cabins. It must have taken some effort to carry the building materials up the narrow hiking trail, with over a hundred cabins originally built in Icehouse Canyon.

The Icehouse Canyon Improvement Association framed its first constitution in 1922. By 1938 there were 105 privately owned cabins in IC. That spring a heavy snow pack at Kelly’s and 2 days of warm rain combined to produce the Great Flood of 1938 on March 2. The flood destroyed all but 35 of the IC cabins plus 16 at the resort, changed the course of the stream and drastically altered the landscape. No permits to build or rebuild were issued thereafter.

Professor Martin Mason quoted in A Capsule History of Icehouse Canyon

Despite my late start, the canyon is well shaded and cool – according to historian John Robinson, the name “Icehouse Canyon” dates from the 1860s, when an ice plant in the lower canyon supplied ice to local residents. There’s still a nice display of Autumn colours (or perhaps more appropriately, Fall colors).

After just over a mile the junction with the Chapman Trail is reached; this newer route provides a longer but more gradual ascent the Icehouse Saddle. It also passes the Cedar Glen Campground. Near this junction is one of the last cabins.

I continue up the Icehouse Canyon Trail, enjoying some more colourful foliage as the trail relentlessly climbs up the canyon.

A sign just after the two-mile mark announces that the Icehouse Canyon Trail is now entering the Cucamonga Wilderness, which was established by the United States Congress in 1964. The name Cucamonga was derived from an old nearby Spanish rancheria (a small, rural settlement) and means either a sandy place or a place of many springs.

I’m now starting to see a few more people, although it’s still not too busy. While the trail still follows Icehouse Creek, the watercourse no longer has any water.

The trail is getting steeper, with a series of switch-backs as it continues to ascend the canyon.

The trail passes the junction with Chapman Trail; from here it’s just 0.7 miles (1.1km) to the Icehouse Saddle.

Icehouse Saddle is “a conspicuous notch in the Telegraph-Ontario Ridge”. It’s nicely shaded and would make a pleasant spot for a break – but it’s way too busy and I’ve no desire to stay here longer than necessary. But I do have a decision to make, as Icehouse Saddle is the gateway to a number of mountain peaks, including Ontario Peak, Cucamonga Peak and Telegraph Peak. I’d originally planned to visit Cucamonga Peak… but the slightly higher elevation of Telegraph Peak proves too tempting…

Baldy Notch and Telegraph Peak via the Three Ts Trail

I bear north along the Three Ts Trail (or Three Tees Trail), which passes Timber Mountain, Telegraph Peak and Thunder Mountain. It’s not overly steep, but it feels like a never-ending climb up the side of the ridge.

At least there are some nice views over the distant mountains, to provide some distraction from the constant ascent.

The first of the Three Tees is Timber Mountain; it’s a half mile (0.8km) return trip to the summit. I plan to make the short detour on the return trip – but through a serendipitous encounter with another hiker on Telegraph Peak, I end up not coming back this way…

There are some more views from the trail near the base of Timber Mountain.

Soon after the Timber Mountain junction the the Three Ts Trail descends to a saddle, dropping about 300 feet (100m). On the other side of the saddle looms Telegraph Peak.

From the saddle there’s another relentless climb up the ridge towards Telegraph Peak. But in contrast to the previous ridges, this one has constantly-changing views and almost no other hikers in sight, making it one of my favourite sections of today’s hike. Well, in hindsight, anyway… at the time I was cursing the never-ending switchbacks! I did later read “The traverse from Timber to Telegraph is one of the most scenic sections of the San Gabriel Mountains and gives you a sense of the high country”.

As the Threes Ts Trail gains elevation, the trail switchbacks up the increasingly steep side of the ridge, and care is needed not to lose the trail on the scree-covered slope.

Finally the junction with the trail up to Telegraph Peak is reached; there’s a sign marking the junction but it doesn’t mention Telegraph Peak.

Fortunately it’s a short detour up to the peak, with only another 100-odd feet in elevation from the main trail. It’s here I bump into Steve, who’s hiked up from Manker Flat at the end of Mount Baldy Road via Baldy Notch. He suggests I continue along the Three Ts Trail to Baldy Notch, and offers to give me a lift back to my car. It means that while I won’t have a chance to check out the view from Timber Mountain which I skipped on the way out, I can enjoy the full length of the Three Ts Trail. (In hindsight I could have done this without a lift, but it would have meant a rather dreary four mile walk back along the road to complete the loop.)

Telegraph Peak is part of the San Gabriel Mountains, and with an elevation of 8,989 feet (2,740m) it’s the highest point in the Cucamonga Wilderness. It’s unclear how the peak got it’s name – it was briefly called Heliograph Hill in the late 1890s, before becoming known as Telegraph Peak.

Telegraph Peak offers panoramic views with Mount Baldy to the northwest, the Lytle Creek Drainage and Cajon Pass to the east, and Cucamonga Peak to the south.

Dominating the skyline to the northwest are Mount San Antonio – informally called Mount Baldy, and the second highest named point in the San Gabriel Mountains – West Baldy and Dawson Peak.

Below Mount Baldy is Thunder Mountain, the first (or last) peak along the Three Ts Trail and accessible via a chairlift in winter.

To the east is San Gorgonio Mountain, or Old Greyback, the highest peak in Southern California and the Transverse Ranges with a height of 11,503 feet (3,506m) and San Jacinto Peak, the second-highest in California at 10,834 feet (3,302m).

To the south-east is a series of ridges of peaks of the Cucamonga Wilderness and beyond.

Abandoning my plan of returning the same way, I now have some company as I continue northwards along the Three Tees Trail with Steve.

The trail descends fairly steeply from Telegraph Peak, with a series of switch-backs.

As with the climb up to Telegraph Peak from the south, there are some spectacular views from the trail.

The trail drops down to saddle, from which there is one last ascent up to Thunder Mountain.

The trail reaches a large flat area, which is used in the ski season, and is just above Baldy Notch.

The Three Ts Trail continues over the top of Thunder Mountain; the small “summit” is the terminus for the ski lift, and offers some nice views to the east. But it doesn’t really feel like a mountain peak.

From here it’s all downhill, geographically speaking at least…

…the Three Ts Trail follows what is a ski run in winter, which is now a wide fire road covered in loose stones.

There’s a last glimpse of the picturesque mountains and ridges, before we reach Baldy Notch.

Baldy Notch (or “The Notch”) has a bar and restaurant. And a chairlift. And as I recently read in a hiking blog about the chairlift: “Taking it up is cheating. Taking it down is sensible.” So down the Sugar Pine Chair Lift we go – it’s a very enjoyable end to a very scenic hike in the San Gabriel Mountains and Cucamonga Wilderness.

It’s ended up being a somewhat shorter walk than I anticipated at about 10 miles (16km) – but with a healthy elevation gain of about 4,800 feet (1,450m) over the day. Without a car shuffle – or a lift! – you could do this as a longer loop walk, with a total distance of 25km / 15.5 miles hiking down from Baldy Notch, or 20km / 12.4 miles taking the chairlift.

 0.0mi /  0.0km  Icehouse Canyon trailhead (4985 feet / 1520m asl)
 1.0mi /  1.6km  Junction with Chapman Trail
 1.9mi /  3.0km  Trail enters Cucamonga Wilderness
 3.0mi /  4.9km  Chapman Trail re-joins Icehouse Canyon Trail
 3.6mi /  5.9km  Icehouse Saddle (7578 feet / 2310m asl)
 4.3mi /  6.9km  Junction with Timber Mountain Trail (+ 0.5mi / 0.8km for summit)
 6.2mi /  9.9km  Junction with trail to Telegraph Peak
 6.4mi / 10.3km  Telegraph Peak summit (8989 feet / 2740m)
 8.1mi / 13.0km  Thunder Mountain (8587 feet / 2613m)
 9.4mi / 15.1km  Baldy Notch and top of Sugar Pine Chair Lift (7775 feet / 2370m)
12.0mi / 19.3km  Manker Flat (end of Mount Baldy Road)
15.0mi / 24.2km  Icehouse Canyon trailhead via Mount Baldy Road

Getting to Ice House Canyon and Telegraph Peak

The Ice House Canyon trailhead is accessed via Mount Baldy Road, by taking the N. Mountain Ave (Exit 54) off the 210 freeway. Continue about 1.5 miles from Mount Baldy Village to the parking area; on weekends the carpark fills early and additional parking is available along the shoulder of Mount Baldy Road. It’s about 50 miles east of Los Angeles (1-1.5 hour drive)

More information

An Angeles Forest Adventure Pass (or an America the Beautiful Pass) is required for the trailhead parking lot – but you can also park on the road just outside the official parking area.

A (free) Wilderness Permit is technically required for Telegraph Peak, as part of the trail enters the wilderness area within San Bernardino National Forest. It’s an easy on-line process that generates a permit you can print or keep on your phone.

• Forest Service – Icehouse Canyon Saddle via Icehouse Canyon / Cucamonga Wilderness
• San Gorgonio Wilderness Association – Permits
• Serendipity – A Capsule History of Icehouse Canyon (IC)
• Mount Baldy Resort – Chairlift Tickets. Chairlift operates weekends only.