Hoyt Mountain Hike

3.9 miles - Moderate Effort
2 Hours (Total)
1,430 Total Feet of Climbing
Max Elevation of 4,404 feet
Leashed Dogs Allowed

The hike to Hoyt Mountain, often overshadowed by its more popular neighbors, is a great adventure packed into 4 miles. To start, you'll scramble up a challenging use trail to the summit, which offers panoramic views into Angeles National Forest and along the San Gabriel Fault. The hike continues by looping down and circling the mountain along an old trail blasted out of the cliffside about 100 years ago. Along the way, you'll even pass LA's outdoor school for kids, which has been operating continuously since 1925.

In this Guide:

Video and Turn-by-Turn Directions for Hoyt Mountain
Where to Park For the Hike
Insider Tips & Recommendations

Quick Links: Angeles National Forest - NOAA Weather Report - Top Gear Picks (Feb 2023)

When planning, always check the park website and social media to make sure the trails are open. Similarly, check the weather and road conditions.

Where is Hoyt Mountain?

You can find the trailhead a short way up CA-2, the Angeles Crest Highway, at Georges Gap. Use this trailhead address:
Georges Gap, Tujunga, CA 91042

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 1 — There are a dozen or so spots at the Georges Gap trailhead.

You don't need a pass to park at Georges Gap.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 2 — The trailhead is at the end of the parking lot, through the little wall.

Gear For the Hike

The first part of the hike requires a steep climb up a loose dirt trail, and then there's a steep descent; having trekking poles and good footwear is a must here. Long pants are also helpful if some sections are overgrown. 1L of water is enough for the short distance, even in the summer when it can be very hot at this lower elevation.

I waste my time with lousy hiking gear so you don't have to. Only the winners get onto my gear page. There's no fluff, sponsorships, or promotions. It's just gear I personally use, have tested, and recommend. Right now I'm liking my inReach Mini 2, Garmin Epix, and Lone Peak 6 shoes.
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My February 2023 Top Gear Picks

Hoyt Mountain Trail Maps

This loop takes a few trails:

An unofficial and steep trail up and over Hoyt Mountain (marked as "firebreak" on USGS maps).
The Hoyt Mountain Trail (11W04) back around the mountain. This trail is also marked as the Telephone Trail on some maps, and is shown as an extension of Grizzly Flat Road on others.
The World of Chaparral Trail (11W03) back to Georges Gap.

Explore Map on CalTopo View a Printable PDF Hike Map Download the Hike GPX File

Free Nav Tools: GaiaGPS - AllTrails

Guides to Help You Navigate

How To Use the AllTrails App (Beginners)

Hiking With Gaia GPS For Beginners

How-To: Using Routes, Tracks, and Waypoints for Garmin Outdoors GPS

How To Read a Topographic Map

Elevation Profile

Hoyt Mountain Hike Elevation — The bad news is that the toughest climbing happens at the start. The good news is that once it's done, it's mostly downhill until the last graded uphill stretch back to the beginning.

3D Map

Hike Brief

Clear Creek Camp Results — On the way back you might hear children's voices coming from Clear Creek Outdoor Education Center, which helps children create an emotional connection to learning and the outdoors. The center has been in continuous operation since 1925, and according to the data from the slide above, it's doing a great job.

Hoyt Mountain is named after Silas Hoyt, who had built a ranch close to the mountain in 1888. He was referred to in newspapers as "the hermit of Big Tujunga Canyon." The ranch was destroyed in a landslide in the 1930s.
There was a famous court case surrounding Hoyt Ranch in 1917. Allegedly two hunters found Hoyt in 1902, at the time 80 years old, emaciated and living in squalor. They offered to improve the ranch, farm the area, and take care of him if Hoyt would lease them the land. Well, they improved the land, started ranching, and even explored some mining prospects, but then Hoyt wanted to back out of the deal. The case went to court after Hoyt died in 1916 when his estranged daughters fought for the inheritance. In 1919 the CA state supreme court eventually ruled in favor of the two hunters, who "gifted" three-quarters of the land back to the state. It's hard to say whether the hunters were genuine do-gooders who deserved the land, or hustlers who took advantage of an old man.
Although known as Hoyt Mountain for many years, the summit wasn't an official USGS name until the Forest Service submitted the name in 1986. It appears as the peak name on USGS topographic maps from 1995 and later.
If you look east from Hoyt Mountain, up the valley where Angeles Crest Highway is, you're looking at the San Gabriel Fault, which moves about 3mm a year and used to be part of the San Andreas Fault.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions

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Video Directions

Turn by Turn Directions

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 3 — At the trailhead you'll see a memorial for Angeles Crest Highway, which truly is a an engineering marvel. Looming above are Josephine Peak and the jagged Strawberry Peak.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 4 — We'll be coming back on the trail straight ahead (the World of Chaparral Trail), but to start, make the hard left and start hiking up the use trail.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 5 — The trail is steep, and it's sometimes hard to follow, but it's there.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 6 — You'll be climbing up above the road. Look for the main path.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 7 — There are sections where people have cut the trail off and taken other routes. The "main" trail is generally always rocky and generally stays to the left in these beginning slopes.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 8 — Eventually you'll gain the false summit.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 9 — The views to the north - Fox Mountain and Condor Peak, open up. The vista is spectacular.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 10 — After a short while on the false summit you'll see Hoyt Mountain in front of you. There's a level section along the ridge before we start the final climb.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 11 — This last stretch is steep, but not as bad as the first part of the hike. The trail is small again, but a little easier to follow.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 12 — There are some steep sections. The trail winds to the right as it approaches the summit.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 13 — And here you are, at the big flat "summit" area of Hoyt Mountain. There are several groups of boulders but no benchmark.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 16 — The first group of boulders sometimes has a small summit register, but on the day I shot this, it was MIA.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 14 — To the east, the radio tower-covered peak of Mt Lukens dominates the skyline.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 17 — Hike to the other side of the flat summit area.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 18 — And you'll soon see the ridge heading down. Follow the trail, which you can easily see from the top, down. We're not climbing the bigger peak in front, Peak 4253.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 19 — There are some great views of downtown LA on the descent.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 20 — I also saw a fire hose. This section of trail is marked on maps as a firebreak, even though it's not very wide. It was also burned in the 2009 Station Fire, and you can still see some evidence of it along the hike today.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 21 — There's a small bump to climb as you head down the ridge.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 22 — As you descend you'll eventually see the power lines at the saddle. That's where we're going.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 23 — More great views north as we descend, with Condor Peak (5443 ft) in the distance.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 24 — At the saddle, make the hard right.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 25 — And go past the power line tower.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 26 — And now you're on a proper single-track trail, the Hoyt Mountain Trail.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 27 — Soon the trail gets rocky. This route was blasted out of the cliff in 1925 by Socal Edison to create a path for the original power lines (not the large ones here today).

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 28 — The trail winds along the cliffside.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 29 — You'll notice these old posts along the trail. The trail is also known as the Telephone Trail. Perhaps these poles carried a telephone line along the old road. If you know the history here, please contact me.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 30 — The views continue to be epic along the north side of Hoyt Mountain.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 31 — And then the trail twists around and you'll start to get views back toward Josephine Peak.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 32 — Off to your left is the Clear Creek Outdoor Education Center. Sometimes when I hike here I can hear kids cheering and laughing, and it's great.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 33 — You'll have a nice gradual downhill, with Clear Creek down to the left.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 34 — Towards the bottom of the trail, look for a turnoff to the right and start the climb back to Georges Gap.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 35 — To start the trail is steep.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 36 — And then levels out and offers nice views of Clear Creek below.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 37 — Soon you'll see the Nature's Canteen Trail joining in from the left. Continue right.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 38 — And you'll see a series of trail signs, one for Hoyt Mountain Trail, the other for World of Chaparral, which we're taking by going straight.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 39 — We'll climb a series of switchbacks on the World of Chaparral Trail, where which carves a path through the chaparral.

The definition of chaparral is "a thicket of dwarf evergreen oaks; broadly : a dense impenetrable thicket of shrubs or dwarf trees."

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 40 — Towards the top of the switchbacks you'll start to hear the traffic noise again.

Hoyt Mountain Hike Directions 41 — And then here you are, back where you started!

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This Guide Was Written by Cris Hazzard

Cris Hazzard 4 Mile Trail Yosemite
Hi, I'm Cris Hazzard, aka Hiking Guy, a professional outdoors guide, hiking expert, and author based in Southern California. I created this website to share all the great hikes I do with everyone else out there. This site is different because it gives detailed directions that even the beginning hiker can follow. I also share what hiking gear works and doesn't so you don't waste money. I don't do sponsored or promoted content; I share only the gear recommendations, hikes, and tips that I would with my family and friends. If you like the website and YouTube channel, please support these free guides (I couldn't do it without folks like you!).

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