The Silver Moccasin Trail is a trail located in the

San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains () are a mountain range located in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert ...

, northeast of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. It begins at Chantry Flat Recreation Area above the city of

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of t ...

, traversing upward and down through several canyons and along the high ridges of the

Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) of the United States Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, primarily within Los Angeles County in Southern California. The ANF manages a majority of the San Gabri ...

. This trail connects Mt. Baden-Powell,

Mount Burnham Mount Burnham is one of the highest peaks in the San Gabriel Mountains. It is in the Sheep Mountain Wilderness. It is named for Frederick Russell Burnham the famous American military scout who taught Scoutcraft (then known as ''woodcraft'') t ...

, Throop Peak and Mount Hawkins. It comes to its highest point of at Mount Baden-Powell after which point it descends to its terminus at Vincent Gap on the

Angeles Crest Highway The Angeles Crest Highway is a two-lane highway over the San Gabriel Mountains, in Los Angeles County, California. It runs through the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and the Angeles National Forest. With the exception of a section in ...

near

Wrightwood Wrightwood is a census-designated place in San Bernardino County, California. It sits at an elevation of . The population was 4,720 at the 2020 census, up from 4,525 at the 2010 census. Wrightwood is located northeast of Los Angeles. It is o ...

Background

The landscape of the Silver Moccasin Trail varies from lowland chaparral slopes, to oak-lined canyons, to the fir and pine forests of Mt. Baden-Powell, where several Southern California councils of the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

have placed a monument to their founder, Lord

Robert Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder of The Boy Scouts Association and its first Chief Scout, and founder, with ...

. The Silver Moccasin Trail started as a series of Indian trails originally created by the local Native Americans (probably

Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous peoples of California, Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Channel Islands of California, Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . In the precolonial era, the peop ...

), but its use was continued by Anglo settlers who either hunted or hiked along its route. In 1942, the Los Angeles Area Council of Boy Scouts established a designated route as the Silver Moccasin Trail, and any Scouts who complete the hike, usually involving several days travel, are qualified to receive the Silver Moccasins Award. Boy Scouts, especially those who are enrolled in "hiking troops," walk this trail usually as part of a five-day backpack trip. The LA Area Council, BSA map that was printed before 1953 (has the name "Flores" in the corner) showed a 60 mile route. It started at the end of the Pacific Electric rail line At Grand View Avenue (6 miles from Chantry Flat). The trail ended at Camp Pepperdine (elevation 6150 ft elevation) near Jackson Lake. The map identifies the six USGS topographic maps for the trail (Sierra Madre, Mt. Wilson, Alder Creek, Waterman Mtn, Crystal Lake, and Mt Baden Powell Quadrangles). The map showed the Mt Baden Powell summit as a short side trip off the main trail. Alternate starting points, or trailheads, have been established for the SMT more than likely due to overuse or overcrowding at Chantry Flat, which has somewhat reduced the adventuresome attractiveness of the younger, less-traveled version. However, sections of the trail which are only to in length while reaching the Baden-Powell summit qualify it as a (flatland) hike due to gains in elevation which are about . The Baden-Powell portions of the hike are also beneficial for acclimation to altitudes for beginning hikers who may experience mild

altitude sickness Altitude sickness, the mildest form being acute mountain sickness (AMS), is a harmful effect of high altitude, caused by rapid exposure to low amounts of oxygen at high elevation. People's bodies can respond to high altitude in different wa ...

between and .

Segments

The following segments are listed from the Chantry Flats starting point to the Vincent Gap terminus and show "via routes" and the one-way mileage: * Chantry Flat to West Fork CG via Gabrielino Trail ... * West Fork CG to Angeles Crest Hwy via Shortcut Canyon ... * Angeles Crest Hwy to Chilao Flat through Charlton Flat ... * Chilao Flat to Three Points passes Horse Flats CG ... * Three Points to Cloudburst Summit via

Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...

... * Cloudburst Summit to Islip Saddle via Pacific Crest Trail ... * Islip Saddle to Mt Baden-Powell via Pacific Crest Trail ... * Mt Baden-Powell to Vincent Gap via Pacific Crest Trail ...

References

External links

* {{coord, 34, 18, 23, N, 118, 00, 37, W, display=title National Recreation Trails in California Angeles National Forest San Gabriel Mountains San Gabriel Mountains National Monument Protected areas of Los Angeles County, California Scouting monuments and memorials Arcadia, California Wrightwood, California

Background

Segments

See also

References

External links