Trail Review: Theodore Payne Trail
Trailhead: 9253-9254 Wildwood Ave, Sun Valley CA 91352
Parking: free street parking in the neighborhood.
Distance: 4 miles out & back.
Talk about a peaceful hike! This turned out to be a nice, secluded hike up in Sun Valley. Despite being not too far from some highways, it really felt like we were away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
The trail starts in a quiet neighborhood with some very nice houses. The trailhead is a dirt path on the right side of one of those homes, at the end of Wildwood Avenue, a dead end street.
The first 0.4 miles are pretty steep as you ascend up the hillside and get above the neighborhood. On the way, you'll probably notice some really pretty wild flowers speckled throughout the trail. This is indicative of what you'll find throughout most of the hike.
There are some turn offs in the path, so having a map is helpful, although the GPS in the area was a bit wonky and it wasn't always placing us accurately on the map or it would jump around. For the most part, if you come to a fork, always take the right-hand path (and on the way back it would be the left-hand path).
There was one spot that ended up being a bit tricky to figure out. It's about 0.7 miles into the hike and it's a spot that looks like a washout right in front of you. Upon exploring the options, it looked like the actual path was all the way to the left so that is the way we went. Technically, it was a path, although it was extremely overgrown and we were pushing our way through bushes and branches most of the way before getting back on the wider path.
As indicated on the above image, we discovered on the way back that the actual path was in fact up the washed out area. So if you want to avoid a narrow, overgrown path, go up the path to the right. If you want to avoid the steepness of the main path, take the narrow, overgrown path to the left. Options!
The rest of the way is pretty straightforward and not steep at all until the last little section. This middle part is super calming and secluded. There were lots of little lizards, lots of wildflowers, and no one else to be seen. In fact, we only saw two people the entire hike and they were on horseback so they passed us pretty quickly.
The point that felt like a natural turn-around spot is at a hairpin turn in the trail where you'll see the 210 Highway to the east for the first time on this entire hike. It is up at the end of a rather steep section which gives you a sense of accomplishment when you get there. It's also got some great views to the west. (If you continued on with the trail, I believe you'd eventually end up on a fire road and then in a neighborhood to the north.)
When you're ready, head back the way you came! Also, the last fork in the trail as you approach the Wildwood Avenue neighborhood is a little hard to see so make sure you keep an eye out for it!
Bottom Line: A calming and secluded hike in Sun Valley. Lots of wildflowers and only a couple steeper sections at the beginning and end.
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