This would appear to be my fifth trip to Chino Hills State Park, but first in over a dozen years. My last trip was from the 4721 Sapphire Road / Bane Canyon Road entrance, at the north end of the park. Note, at the time, this was just parking on a street curb, and walking up a dirt road. As I look at a map, now, I see that Bane Canyon Road is paved, and continues to an actual entrance gate and restroom facilities. Wow, what a change!
An early trip started from the Rim Crest Entrance, at the southern end of the park. And I started a hike from this end, once before, way back in 2012. Additionally, I had an additional, shorter hike from the Sapphire Road entrance, which it appears I did not blog.
Today's destination was Gilman Peak, which is where I took the shots of the snow-covered San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains. To get there, I took the Telegraph trail about 3.8 miles, then the Gilman trail north, about 1.2 miles, to the peak.
The photos are not in order of them being taken, so don't use them to follow along!
The Telegraph trail starts (or ends) near the Discovery Center, which is the formal visitor center for Chino Hills State Park, where there is paid parking. You could also park not too far away, in Carbon Canyon Regional Park, and walk an additional 100 yards to a 1/2 mile or so (depending on which lot you use), but save five dollars or so.
Apparently, there is now a paved road and entrance gate.
On my return trip, by the way, a couple of younger hikers asked me how far the trail was. I answered, honestly, that you could walk pretty much "forever," but at least ten miles on this trail, with various connections. Then they asked how far it was to a mountain top, and I said about five miles. This was about 20 minutes before the park closed, and I told them there's no way they could get there before dark. They continued walking.
At any rate, for my hike, the section on Telegraph trail is a slight incline, along a broad, dirt road. There are substantial hills on either side, which means you're shielded from sight or sound of city life. Because of the recent rains, the hills were green, punctuated by mustard blooms.
By contrast, I've walked here when it's just brown and dead-looking, and not very pretty, at all. So this was nicer, and why I wanted to hike here now, in the first place.
The Gilman trail heads off to the left, dips ten feet or so into the canyon bottom, then climbs pretty steeply up towards Gilman Peak. Currently, its tightly bound by various plants, mostly mustard in the lower area, with lots of thistle leaves to scratch you legs. Kind of wish I had worn long pants.
No poison oak on the trail to Gilman, fortunately. I'm pretty sure it gets too dry on the hill in the summer for the poison oak to survive. Did see quite a bit along Telegraph trail, but that trail is so wide that poison oak is not an issue.
The climb was annoyingly long, mainly because I knew I was cutting things a little tight. I didn't start until about 1:30, leaving me 3:20 minutes to get my hike in and then get my car out of the lot, and I wasn't sure ahead of time the actual distance I needed to travel. I had a rough estimate, by looking at a map. I also knew I was heading uphill, so figured my return time would be somewhat less than my outbound leg.
According to my Alltrails recording, I took about 1:45 of "moving" time to get to the top of Gilman Peak. Not sure how long of a stop to take pictures before the clock stopped, but, still, I figured I'd need about 1:30 of "moving" time to get back, minus stops to drink or take more photos. And although I had an idea that I could continue over the peak and return via a different trail, if it turned out that trail was closed, I migth not have had time to backtrack and get out the way I came, so I just returned the way I came.
As previously mentioned, the most common flower on this hike was the common mustard. There were also a few spots with morning glory. Numerous bush sunflowers near the start, as well as some wishbone bush and desert chia.
Lots of thistle plants were growing along the trail up to Gilman, but very few had blooms, yet. Scattered blue dicks, and some decent patches of lupine as I neared the top, too.
Temperatures were comfortable, probably mid-70s. At these temperatures, things should stay green here for a while. Not sure if the other wildflowers will fill in more as we progress toward summer.
After my hike, I was too tired to make the short detour into Carbon Canyon Regional Park. There's a stand of coast redwoods in the park, which I didn't photograph the one time I was in there, and that was a dozen years ago, so they'd be a bit taller, now. At any rate, maybe one of these days I'll manage a return.
Tenth hike of the year, so I'm still slightly ahead of schedule for my "once a week" goal. Of course, after daylight savings, and into late spring and summer, the days get longer, and I can sneak an occasional weekday hike in there. But, for now, it's mostly just on my days off that I can hike, and I can't always count on that.
I forgot my hiking boots on this one, but most of the way, my athletic shoes were fine. It does get slick in spots, though. After rains, in fact, the park will close, because, like the Puente Hills, when it's muddy, the surface can become super slick, and highly erodible.
Informationally, dogs are generally not allowed on the "backcountry" trails, but are permitted in the paved areas and overlooks. Mountain bikes and equestrians are allowed on many trails, but not all. Check their website to be sure.
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