Plan a Play Day at Mount Pinos

Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel

Mount Pinos is a terrific get-away for Santa Claritans! The mountain stands 8, 831 feet high, and is often covered with piles of wonderful, white, fluffy snow! It is the perfect way to spend a day with your family cross-country skiing, telemark skiing, snow camping, sledding, snow-boarding and just plain playing in the snow. And in the summer, Mt. Pinos has even more great things to do. Try hiking to the summit or beyond, or bring your telescope and experience the phenomenal night skies at their best. You can also try your hand at fishing, camping, birding, rock climbing, backpacking, and horse-back riding.

Mt. Pinos was called Iwihinmu in the Chumash tongue. Mt. Pinos is near the center of the historic home of the Chumash, and was considered by the Indians to be the center of the world. They believed that this was the one place on earth where everything was in balance. Once you’ve been there, you may agree. On the summit, you can find Forest Service information, in both English and Spanish, about the Chumash. How they lived, their beliefs, history, and their symbolism are some of the things you will learn.

Mt. Pinos is part of the Los Padres National Forest , and the Chumash Wilderness starts near the summit of the mountain. The Chumash wilderness trail travels an additional 6 miles to Mt. Abel . At 8,831 feet high, Mt. Pinos is the highest mountain in the San Emigdio Mountains. From the summit you can see the southern Sierra Nevada, the Central Valley , and the Carrizo Plain. You can also see a trace of the San Andreas Faultline, where it bulges and turns. This is a great hike in the summer, and can easily be accomplished in the winter with snowshoes. It is 2 miles to the summit from the Nordic Hut parking area.

Thirty one kids from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Val Verde and Newhall went to Mt. Pinos to play in the snow with the Community Hiking Club. For many of them, it was their first time seeing snow close up!  It was a great day filled with new adventures at every turn. Kids enjoyed sliding on saucers, tobogganing, learning to snowboard, having snow ball fights, making snow angels, and building snowmen. It was exhilarating to watch the kids learning about the snow. Even the feeling of wet icy fingers and toes was an adventure! All of this excitement is available for the taking, in under an hour’s drive from Santa Clarita.

If there is snow, the Community Hiking Club is planning a snow-shoe trip to the summit of Mt. Pinos , on April 13. If there is no snow, we will be hiking to the summit. We are also planning summer hike to the top. If you would like to join us on the snowshoe trip, you can easily rent snowshoes at our local sport shops. For other dates and times, see the schedule of hikes at communityhikingclub.org, or contact Dianne at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it It’s free and there is no membership. Come join us anytime. It’s a great way to exercise and get ready for the summer season!

Before you go, please consider calling Caltrans and the Forest Service about road conditions and closures, since the Grapevine often closes during snowstorms due to hazardous driving conditions. The road to Mt. Pinos is often closed as well. Another hazard can be black ice. Please be prepared when driving into these areas in questionable conditions.