Cucamonga Peak Hike

In This Guide	How to Get a Cucamonga Peak Permit How to Get to the Cucamonga Peak Hike Cucamonga Peak Trail Maps Turn by Turn Hike Directions What You Need To Do the Hike
Distance	12 miles (19.3 km)
Time	7 Hours (Total Time)
Difficulty	Hard
Total Climbing	4,300 feet (1311m)
Highest Elevation	8,862 feet (2701m)
Dog Friendly	Leashed
Park Name	Angeles National Forest
Park Phone	909-982-2829

With one of the coolest summits in the San Gabriel Mountains, the Cucamonga Peak hike is a favorite. Cucamonga Peak, at 8,862 feet, has spectacular views of the LA sprawl, the desert, and surrounding peaks. The climb is tough but not brutal, the scenery and views are awesome, and the crowds aren’t as bad as Mount Baldy. You might even see some bighorn sheep!

Getting to Cucamonga Peak

Use this trailhead address: 20 Ice House Canyon Rd, Mt Baldy, CA, 91759, USA.

There is a big parking lot, but it fills up early, and you need a parking pass. I use the affordable National Parks Pass, which gets me in every park, monument, and national forest. You can also use an (Southern California only) Adventure Pass, or buy a $5 day permit from the ranger’s office.

You need a permit to hike in the Cucamonga Wilderness, and it’s easy and free. A box at the trailhead has permit forms for you to fill out. Bring a pen. If there are no forms, fill out your info on a piece of paper and leave it. More on the permit below in the directions.

Gear for the Hike

This is a long and challenging hike. Make sure you pack plenty of water, snacks, and layers. In the winter, there can be snow and ice. Check the summit weather and call the ranger office for the latest conditions and don’t take any risks. The Cucamonga Peak Trail is in an avalanche zone. This is not one to “just try and see how it goes” if there are snowy winter conditions.

You can also camp on the summit of Cucamonga Peak, there are primitive campsites. Just make sure you fill out your permit appropriately and don’t start any open fires.

Here’s what I bring:

My Top Gear Picks

Do you have the right hiking gear? Will it stand up to the test? I waste lots of money testing hiking gear every year so that you don’t have to. My gear picks are solid choices that will serve you well on the trail. I don’t do sponsored or paid reviews, I just the share actual gear that I use all the time that’s made the cut. Here are my top picks:

Garmin InReach Mini Emergency Beacon – Hiking out of cell phone range? Make sure you have one of these two-way satellite texting devices in case your hike doesn’t go as planned. You can read my full review here.
Injinji Sock Liners With Darn Tough Hiking Socks – This combo is a great way to avoid blisters out on the trail. I have some insider-hiking tips for avoiding blisters here. Pair them with modern, high-tech hiking boots (for women and men) and your feet with thank you.
Garmin Fenix 5x Plus – It’s a little pricey, but man do I love this thing. Not only does it have all the topo maps and navigation tools on my wrist, but it also acts as a long battery life, rugged, outdoors version of an Apple Watch. Track your workouts, sleep, heart rate, all that stuff.

I have lots of other great, sponsor-free, trail tested gear picks on my “best gear” page.

See My Full Gear List

Cucamonga Peak Trail Maps

The hike to Cucamonga Peak starts on Icehouse Canyon Trail, which can get crowded. After Icehouse Saddle, the crowd thins out.

I highly recommend bringing a good paper map with you, and then using it in conjunction with a GPS device. You can see the navigation gear that I use here (I’m currently using the Fenix 5x Plus and love it). Just download the GPX file below and load it onto your GPS.

Many people also print out this web page for the turn-by-turn images. And if you really want to get tricky, YouTube Premium lets you download videos for offline use, so you can download the hike video and save it.

Click Here to Load Interactive Trail Map

Download the Hike GPX File

View a Printable PDF Hike Map

Cucamonga Peak Hike 3d map — It’s a long, gradual climb up from Icehouse Canyon. Then a final push to Cucamonga Peak. You can see the peak’s position gives you great 360 views of the surrounding.

Cucamonga Peak Hike elevation — The hike is steadily uphill on the Icehouse Canyon Trail. After Icehouse Saddle the hike is level and you get a breather, and then you go up. And up.

Cucamonga Peak Hike Directions

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Turn by Turn Directions

Cucamonga Peak Hike trailhead — The Cucamonga Peak hike starts at the Icehouse Canyon trailhead, at the far end of the parking lot.

Cucamonga Peak Hike permit box — Hiking permits are in the box in front of the trailhead sign.

Cucamonga Peak Hike permit — Fill the hiking permit out, take the yellow copy with you, and drop the white copy in the slot on the side of the box. If there’s no permits left, fill out your info on a blank piece of paper and leave it in the box.

Cucamonga Peak Hike trail — Start hiking up the developed Icehouse Canyon trail, passing some cabins along the way.

Shortly after starting, there’s a tree stump with SCE on it. Hike to the left and continue on the Icehouse Canyon trail.

ruins on Cucamonga Peak Hike — There are cool ruins along this part of the hike.

Cucamonga Peak Hike trail junction — After hiking about a mile, there’s a junction, hike straight through.

Cucamonga Peak Hike trail sign — You’re next destination is the Icehouse Saddle, 2.6 miles down the trail.

Cucamonga Wilderness sign — After hiking about 1.7 miles, you officially enter the Cucamonga Wilderness area.

rocks on Cucamonga Peak Hike — As the trail gently starts to angle upward, there are a lot of really cool rocks and geological formations.

cairns on Cucamonga Peak Hike — There are some rocky sections of the trail here. Look for the cairns if you get lost.

Cucamonga Peak Hike views — As you climb, the views back into the canyon are beautiful.

Cucamonga Peak Hike switchbacks — The trail steepens and traverses several switchbacks.

Cucamonga Peak Hike approaches icehouse saddle — At around 3.6 miles, you approach Icehouse Saddle.

icehouse saddle — Icehouse Saddle is a great place to stop for a snack. There are five trails that intersect here. You want to hike on the Cucamonga Peak trail, which is straight through the saddle area from where you came.

This is the Cucamonga Peak trail (from Icehouse Saddle).

cris hazzard on Cucamonga Peak Hike — There’s lots of great views to the left.

At around 4.5 miles, you’ll see an abandoned mine shaft. If you want to see what it’s like inside, check this out.

Cucamonga Peak Hike trail climbs — Shortly after the mine, the trail crosses a small saddle and starts climbing.

Cucamonga Peak Hike sign post — At about 6.2 miles, after some serious climbing, the trail to Cucamonga Peak splits off to the right. Someone stole the sign on this day, so keep your eye open for the wooden post.

Cucamonga Peak — You did it! The actual peak is to the left. There’s an American flag to the right.

Cucamonga Peak flag — The area with the flag has views toward the west.

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Why HikingGuy?

I’m Cris Hazzard, and I want to help you enjoy the outdoors. I’m sharing my knowledge, guides, and the gear I personally use so that you can go out, have fun, and be safe.

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