Trail Review: East Walker Loop
Parking: Free parking in dirt lot just off the road at Walker Ranch.
Distance: 3.3 miles loop
This hike is not so much one trail as it is a combination of a bunch of different trails in Placerita Canyon. And the fun part of this one is that you actually can make it more of a choose-your-own-adventure path if you wanted to because there are so many interconnected trails in this area. For the same reason, it is very helpful to do this trail with a map (or cell phone) in hand. We used the AllTrails.com map as we went so that we knew where the turn offs were and if we were still on the right path.
As you turn off of Placerita Canyon Road to East Walker Ranch, there is a decent size dirt lot to park in. There were only three other cars there when we arrived and even less when we left so parking shouldn't be an issue. The trailhead starts at the other end of the parking lot where there is a small opening in the wooden fencing:
The first section will actually start out by going downhill. Not too long after the start, there are a couple of forks in the path but these are short detours that meet up with each other pretty quickly so feel free to choose whichever one looks interesting to you. One option might be steeper or longer than the other so it's up to you. Eventually you will end up at Placerita Canyon Road where you venture through a tunnel that'll bring you underneath the road and out onto the other side:
Once on the north side of the road, the trail flattens out for a while as you head east and remain parallel with the road. You'll cross a couple of wooden bridges and then you'll be at another trailhead/parking area. There's no tunnel this time. To get back on the south side of the road and back on the trail, you'll need to just simply cross the road. Be careful! The cars can be going pretty fast!
Back on the south side, this is where you'll start to head back uphill and get that cardio going. This is also where you'll start finding forks in the path that won't necessarily reconnect down the line or will greatly alter your mileage. Be sure to check a map!
You get a nice variety of landscapes on this hike. You get views of the open expanse but you also get some areas that are more forest-y and some that are open fields and tall grass. I certainly enjoyed discovering each new section.
One thing to note is that the trail does get a little hard to follow at its south east corner where the trail hairpins and starts to head north. At that point, it's not so much a trail as it is a "path of least resistance". But it won't last long. You'll be back on the established trail in no time. And it is possible to avoid this part if you don't want to deal with it. If you look at a map, you'll see that another path connects the two parts of the trail so it's totally up to you if you want to journey into the wilderness.
As you loop back around to the start of the trail, you'll see more signs of civilization including the road and buildings in the distance. The last part descends down the hill and back to the parking area, passing by some bails of hay that I assume are for horses, although we never saw anyone riding while we were there. We did pass some mountain bikers though so be on the look out for those!
Bottom Line: A series of interconnected trails in Placerita Canyon that make for a fun adventure and gives you some diverse scenery along the way.
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