TRAIL: Bear Divide Trail
LENGTH: 2.2 miles or 4.4 miles roundtrip
DIFFICULTY: Easy if only going one way (downhill)-Difficult if making it a round trip. Uphill is steep.


Hiking Club Participant Jack Clough hiked Bear Divide, and made the following Video for us, which is posted on Youtube: 

DESCRIPTION: This trail is very easy to follow, with no trails intersecting it. However, it is a steep incline/decline, so going up or down, watch your footing. The Bear Divide Trail begins in upper Sand Canyon at the Bear Divide US Forest Service Fire Station, and climbs the north face of the San Gabriels to the Los Angeles County Fire Camp 9 at May Canyon Saddle. The trail runs 2.2 miles one-way, and provides some of the best landscape views of the Santa Clarita and San Fernando Valleys.

The lower portion of the trail switchbacks through the chaparral as it ascends out of the Sand Canyon/Little Pacoima Canyon drainage. From this vantage point, the Topatopa Mountains can be seen off to the west; to the east, lies the Magic Mountain wilderness and the front range of the San Gabriels. The trail ascends quickly up the mountain, and in no time the dry chaparral begins to transition into oak woodland.

Further up the trail and onto the mountain, the steep canyon walls provide ideal habitat for Big Cone Douglas Fir, a species more common in wetter, higher elevations of the San Gabriel Range. As you reach the top of the ridge, the Big Cone Douglas Fir and Canyon Oak forest becomes very dense and provides a wonderful shady understory for the hiker. For this reason, the trail (especially when begun from the top) is one of the best summer hiking trails, when temperatures in the full sun can reach over 110F.

Once at the top, the spectacular view (on a clear day) can be taken in on all sides. Towards the south you can see the San Fernando Valley clear to Santa Catalina Island, and towards the north you can see the Santa Clarita Valley, the Ojai Range, and to the Antelope Valley. In the last few years, the endangered California Condor has been seen riding thermals above the higher peaks, so keep an eye to the sky for largest bird in North America. For a one-way trip, it is advisable for a pair of hikers to leave vehicles at either end of the trail.

HOW TO GET TO THE TRAILHEAD: From SR 14, exit on Sand Canyon and head south. Sand Canyon will wind its way up the mountains to Bear Divide. At Bear Divide, turn right and head ¼ mile to the turnout on the right. The trail starts at the turnout. To hike down the trail, continue UP the fire road to Camp 9 Firestation. There is a dirt parking area to the right of the entrance. The trail head is also on the right.