Trail Review: Hoyt Mountain
Parking: Free parking at the turnout on CA-2 at Hoyt Mountain Road
Distance: 4.5 miles out & back
This trail starts at a turnout on CA-2 in the Angeles National Forest. There is space in the turnout to park; although if it's busy, you might end up at the narrow end and I'd advise you to take caution as you'll be kind of close to the road with cars zooming by. The trail starts by heading up Hoyt Mountain Road to the left of the turnout. There is a gate that you can just walk around to get on the path.
Once on the trail, the incline is pretty steady the whole time but not difficult until the last two tenths of a mile. More on that later. At the beginning of the trail, you'll start by heading south but soon make a hairpin turn and begin the journey to the north and east. I'd say over half the trail stays close enough to the highway to be able to see and hear the traffic so it definitely is not the most secluded hike. You'll get some decent views of the nearby mountains on the way up but the best view doesn't come until the end.
About 0.6 miles into the hike, you'll come across a small building covered in graffiti that seems to have a ladder that lets you access the roof. We didn't venture over to the structure but did see other people climbing up onto it at one point.
Right after the building is the fork in the road. You'll want to continue to the right on Hoyt Mountain Edison Road. The path to the left is a journey for another day. After the fork, the path is pretty straightforward until you reach the base of Hoyt Mountain. You'll start to see some large transmission towers, and when the trail brings you right up to one of those towers, you'll know you're there.
At this point, the regular trail continues to the left but you want to go up the steeper path to the right. This is what it looks like:
That narrow path going up the hillside is the path that'll get you up to the summit of Hoyt Mountain. It is EXTREMELY steep. Having trekking poles for this section helps immensely. Much of the path involves loose rocks and dirt so always double check your footing before putting all of your weight into it.
This last 0.2 miles will take some time. There are one or two flatter sections on the way up that can be used as rest points and are nice lookouts. But the 360 degree view doesn't come until you are at the top.
The trail itself wasn't busy. We maybe only saw two or three groups of people. But once we started our ascent of Hoyt Mountain, there was literally no one. So we had the summit all to ourselves which was really nice.
When you are ready to head back down, please be careful. The risk of slipping and falling on the path down is even greater. Go slow and look for flatter spots to place your foot like on a sturdy rock or on the roots of some foliage. Once you've made it back down to the transmission tower, it'll be smooth sailing the rest of the way back to the turnout.
Bottom Line: A relatively easy trail until the last two tenths of a mile where you veer off the main path and scramble up Hoyt Mountain. It's worth it for the great and secluded view at the end.
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