Trail Review: Stough Canyon/Old Youth Camp Trail to the Wishing Tree
Trailhead: Stough Canyon Nature Center, 2300 E Walnut Ave, Burbank, CA 91504
Parking: Free in small lot at the nature center or along E Walnut Ave.
Distance: 2.8 miles out & back
This trail, while fairly short, has some nice views and interesting finds that make it worth while.
The trailhead is easy to get to and parking wasn't bad. The small parking lot at the nature center can fill up pretty quickly on the weekends but there was plenty of space to park along the road near the golf course. It just requires a little extra walking uphill if you park along the road.
There are actually two ways you could go to get to the Wishing Tree picnic area from Stough Canyon. The choice comes about half a mile in at the fork in the trail at the "Canyon Idea Bench". You can either stay on Stough Canyon Motorway and veer to the right, or you can do what we did and take the left-hand turn off onto Old Youth Camp Trail. They both take about the same amount of time, but the Old Youth Camp Trail takes you past some old building ruins which are interesting, and you can add on an extra short hike to the Henry Cook Lookout Point if you'd like. We also found this path to be the one less traveled. The trail becomes pretty narrow and more overgrown at times but we passed maybe one or two people to whole time.
Eventually, the Old Youth Camp Trail meets up with the Chandler Fire Road. It appeared to have been bulldozed recently and the Old Youth Camp Trail hits a dead end at a spot where it looks like a bulldozer dumped a bunch of dirt, but with a bit of climbing over the dirt mound, we were able to get onto the Chandler Fire Road and continue to the west. The fire road is quite wide and easy to walk. From there it is a short distance to the Wishing Tree picnic area and a lovely view of Burbank and the surrounding Verdugo Mountains.
When done taking in the views or enjoying a picnic, you can take the same route back or opt to make it a loop by following the Chandler Fire Road farther east to the Stough Canyon Mountain Way and head back down to the nature center from there.
Bottom Line: A fairly quiet hike for a busy area with a great view at the end.
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