Mt. San Antonio, more commonly known as Mt. Baldy, is a 10,064ft mountain peak located in the San Gabriel range of Southern California. There are numerous routes to the summit, with the most popular being Devil’s Backbone and Skit Hut Trail. For winter adventurer’s looking for an introduction to mountaineering, Mt. Baldy offers the steep and challenging Baldy Bowl route. I cannot stress enough the importance of safety on this route. Do not attempt this hike without the proper gear and training. You should at the very least have an ice axe and crampons. You may also want to consider a helmet. Make sure to have training for self arrest should you need it. REI holds self arrest seminars on this very route. It is also possible to hike Baldy Bowl in the snow free months, but with such loose terrain on a steep mountain, I do not recommend it.
Directions:
- The trailhead to hike Baldy Bowl Trail is located at Manker Flat, the same trailhead that is used for Devil’s Backbone and Ski Hut Trail for ascents of Mt. Baldy. Click here for directions
- From the 210 freeway, exit Baseline (eastbound) or Mountain (westbound) and head north towards Mt. Baldy Road and Mt. Baldy Village. Continue past Mt. Baldy Village and take a left towards the Mt. Baldy Ski Resort when you see the parking lot for Icehouse Canyon. The trailhead is just after the Manker Flat camping area and just before the ski lift parking lot.
- Download GPX
- See my track on Strava
Key Points:
- Distance: 8 miles
- Elevation Gain: 3980 ft
- Minimum Elevation: 6156 ft
- Maximum Elevation: 10064 ft
- Time: 5-7 hours
- Difficulty: Advanced
- Dog Friendly: Yes, but not advisable
- Permit Required: No, Adventure Pass Required To Park
- Season: Year Round, But Best In Winter With Snow
- Trail Condition: Well On Ski Hut, Use Trail Up Baldy Bowl
Make sure to hike with the right gear. See my current hiking gear list.
Hike Map And Elevation Profile:
As you can see in the Google Earth image below, the actual Baldy Bowl route on this climb is fairly short, but very steep. The vast majority of this hike takes place on the Ski Hut Trail, also known as the Baldy Bowl Trail.
Climbing up the Baldy Bowl route takes hikers up 1800ft of elevation in a little over a mile. Make sure you’re in shape for this one, as you do not want to run out of gas half way up the mountain.
Hike Description:
As I mentioned above, much of this hike takes place on the Skit Hut Trail. I’m going to assume that you have hiked to the summit of Mt. Baldy via Ski Hut Trail (and/or Devil’s Backbone, Bear Canyon, Register Ridge) before taking on this Winter ascent. For that reason, I’m going to be brief in my description of the first two miles, as you’re probably already familiar with this section of the trail.
From Manker Flat parking area, walk past the port-o-potties and yellow gate up the paved Mt. Baldy Rd. towards San Antonio Falls. Once you pass San Antonio Falls, you’ll begin hiking on a fire road. Keep an eye out to your left for the start of the Ski Hut Trail, marked by a broken trail sign reading “Baldy Bowl Trail”.
Continue on Ski Hut Trail for 2.5 miles until you reach the green San Antonio Ski Hut. The San Antonio Ski Hut sits at 8300ft and belongs to the Sierra Club. Offering a fully equipped kitchen with dishes, water, and lighting, the Skit Hut is a pretty nice place to house up to 16 people. The rate is $20 for non Sierra Club members, and $16 for members. You can contact a hut host for more information.
After leaving the Ski Hut behind, the Ski Hut Trail cuts through the base of the Baldy Bowl and climbs up a ridge to the west. Instead of heading towards this ridge, you’ll want to look to your right (north), and begin climbing straight up the Baldy Bowl. There are a number of different routes you can take, and you’ll notice more than a few use trails in the snow if it’s been more than a few days after a storm.
Baldy Bowl is a steep and unrelenting route. There are few places to take a break or adjust your gear once you get moving, so make sure you have everything dialed in before you head up.
If you’re afraid of heights and/or get vertigo, this is not the hike for you. If you like the feeling of being on top of the world, you’re going to love it! Don’t forget to turn around and enjoy the views every now and again. Once you’re half way up, the skies really start to open before you. The northern side of the front range is in full view, with fan favorites like Cucamonga and Ontario Peak.
With about 800ft to the summit, the Baldy Bowl trail starts to stiffen up for the steepest climbing of the day. Many choose to cut uphill in a narrow switchback pattern to ensure their footing. Other more daring climbers venture off towards the steeper chutes.
With 300ft of elevation and .2 miles to the summit of Mt. Baldy, you’ll climb up and out of Baldy Bowl. This section will feel easy after what you’ve just climbed.
After hiking nearly 4,000ft in 3.4 miles, you’ll be standing on the 10,064ft summit of Mt. Baldy. The views from the summit can be pretty spectacular on a clear day. It’s not unusual to see Catalina Island, San Gorgonio, San Jacinto, Baden Powell, Iron Mountain, and many more SoCal favorites. On the day I catalogued this hike, I observed an event I’m not likely to see anytime soon. A helicopter crashed on the saddle between West Baldy and Mt. Baldy.
Your return route will largely depend on the trail conditions and snow depth. Some hikers will glissade down Baldy Bowl if there is enough snow. Be very careful though if you choose this option, as there are some very large and sharp rocks. I chose to hike down Ski Hut Trail, for a casual and relaxed 4 mile descent. The choice is yours.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this hike write up. Feel free to leave me any questions or comments in the field provided below.
Curious if you wore the Salomon S-Lab X Alp Carbon GTXs you reviewed last year? If so, have you ever used them with crampons? Just trying to get some field use feedback on their use as fast and light footwear paired with crampons (and snowshoes) for local LA mountains.
Thanks – great report.
Michael
Hey Micheal, Yes I wore the S-Lab X Alp Carbons for this hike. I only wore microspikes for this hike, but have worn the Carbons with crampons as well. They’re a great shoe, and I actually saw another guy hiking with them to the summit.
Awesome write up. This will come in handy for tomorrow 🙂
Thanks! I hope you had a great time!
enjoyed the write up and the pictures. Someone I know came across the helicopter crash you mentioned and they took pictures with it. Crazy.
Question. If I attempted to summit Baldy via Bear Canyon Trail, In the next three weeks) would I need professional crampons or do you think Micro spikes would work?
It was pretty surreal to see the downed helicopter at the summit. Bear Canyon Trail will probably be pretty dry up until around 8,000ft right now. Still. I think you’d probably want a proper pair of crampons. I’ve hiked it this time of year in the past with microspikes, and felt that they were inadequate. The issue is the depth of snow this year from all of the crazy storms we’ve had. The daily thaw/freeze cycle is going to make for some seriously dense and slick ice. It looks like it’s going to start warming up soon. If you can hold off until the end of March, you’ll probably be fine with just microspikes.
Thanks for your response. I may put this off until end of March based on your feedback. Much appreciated!
Good call. With all of this warm weather, the snow appears to be melting quickly.
Did Bear Canyon over the weekend and snow started in ernest at 7000′. Had only microspikes but wish I had crampons on the decent, especially around the ridge just before West Baldy. Of the handful of others on the trails at that elevation – everyone else had crampons.
Thanks for the input from this weekend! Much appreciated!
Anybody know if there’s still much snow/ice on the baldy bowl route above the treeline right now? I’m going to be out there on business next week, and would love to hit this with crampons at most and avoid bringing my ice axe that doesn’t fit in my normal luggage.
Jon, there is still snow above the treeline, although a lot of it melted away this week. We’re expecting a two day storm next week on Tue/Wed that should drop a little more.
I have heard more experienced winter hikers say that crampons only without helmet and ice axe is a disaster because idk you try to arrest a slip with crampons it will put you head first down the slope. whereas an ice axe arrest will keep you feet first. made sense to a newbie like me . comments?
Thanks a lot for the insight man, I was actually planning on trying to go up around mid afternoon on Tuesday to knock it out after a meeting. I’ve done the normal ski hut route before in June, and would love to check out the baldy bowl route with some snow in preparation for Hood in a few months. If it looks or feels sketchy, I’ll turn around or find a path of less resistance since I’m not bringing my axe this trip to rely on for self arrest should the slope give way.
No problem! Sounds like a good plan.
The bowl is a badass hike in winter. Have you heard of the Snow Creek ascent of San Jacinto? Best winter alpine climb of SoCal.
I’ve heard of it, but have yet to attempt it. I’ll have to give it a shot next year.
Awesome!!! Me and my son (13 at the time) hiked the Grand Canyon in the snow 18 miles and he wanted to do it again (age 15 now) but it’s booked all year long! This hike looks fun, especially if we can get a hut too to relax! I read it is difficult but we did do the Grand Canyon down to Phantom Ranch and back. I’m curious if you think it’s harder than that? Also, what dates did you go? I’m looking at doing this around Christmas!
One more thing!! I’m always concerned about running into Bears!! I think they are hibernating in the winter correct? Are Bears or other wild animals ever a danger?
Here is our Grand Canyon Hike https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4G6_44Xp28
Thanks for sharing. As a father of a 1 year old son, this is a huge inspiration!
We are heading up this week and curious about the same question Drew; any bears this time of year up Ice House then three “T’s” up Devils to summit Baldy? Do we need to bring bear canister/rodent bags and hang food?
Thanks for your always informative post!
Gina
Bear sightings in Icehouse are not common during daylight hours, but fairly common at dusk, dawn, and dark. Same with Manker Flat. Human food and trash tend to bring them out. I have never seen a bear or heard of any sightings on 3 T’s or near the Baldy summit. It is possible though. I don’t bring a bear canister when I do overnighters in the area. A rodent bag should suffice.
I just read you hiked the Ski Hut Trail back. I’ve been watching videos of Devils Backbone and that trail does look like the most intimidating in the Winter. Is the Baldy Bowl and Ski Hut Trail the easiest or safest?
That’s my preferred route, but some like taking Devil’s Backbone. People get injured and die on all of these trails though, so I don’t know if I’d deem any of them safest.
Black bears don’t have too many violent encounters with humans. They’re more interested in your food. The mountain lions don’t seem to bother humans either, unless they mistake them for prey at dusk and dawn.
Hi everyone, since my first post, I just wanted to say I was able to secure another 2 nights down at Phantom Ranch in the Grand Canyon! My Wife, Daughter and Son will all be hiking down this time right after Christmas in the snow for a few nights 🙂 I’ll be filming the entire journey so stay tuned if you are interested! I never did make the trek up Baldy but I’m thinking we’ll be doing that as well but I really don’t like hiking in the heat and summer is already here. Thanks for all of the replies to my original post. I am stoked because it is very hard to get a reservation now at the Grand Canyon. Look into it, it is a wonderful experience in the Winter.
Hi, I have hiked Mt. Baldy during late spring and summer. Never before in winter when is full with snow. What are your recomendations for gear? I have never hiked during winter and planning on taking this hike on the 31st of March if weather permits.
Araceli. This is one of those hikes that I don’t like to give advice on. My stance is that if you don’t know what gear you need then you shouldn’t be doing it.
mt baldy is called the big bitch. Wasnt there a helipad or reddish orange one (Like in M*A*S*H) and is there a book one can log on to at the top?
I’ve never heard anyone call it that…
Hi Drew! I’m planning to hike Mt Baldy next weekend to do a vivouac at the summit. I have a few questions:
1.- Do I need an ice axe or is it doable with hiking poles?
2.- Crampons or ice spikes?
3.- Is there too much wind at the summit? Should I bring a deadman to anchor myself through the night?
Sorry for the late reply, but want to answer for other readers. Ice axe and crampons are a must. Do not go up in the snow/ice without. Make sure you have proper training and have actually used these tools for self arrest in a training situation. Do not let this be your first time on ice/snow. Wind is a given at the summit of baldy, so yes, a deadman would be advisable.