Hoegee’s Loop Trail

Without expecting too much, we headed out on our venture. Being very familiar with the falls at Chantry Flats, we decided to try something new and hit Hoegee’s Loop. Given that it was a pretty warm and sunny day in the early hours of the morning, the choice was spot on perfect.
The hike in total distance is just over 5miles round trip.
I guess you could say that the descent into Big Santa Anita Canyon is my nemesis. Not going down, but ending a hike and having to come back up that treacherous hill. The great thing about this loop is that you start by heading down into the canyon and end up at the parking lot! You had me at «ending up at the parking lot». For those of you who have done this hike will understand.
This is a primarily shady hike with wonderful scenery along the way. The trail is clean, well maintained, and lots of wonderful native plants in bloom during this time of year. The inclines are gradual with a total of approx 1,000 foot elevation gain.
Once you hit Hoegee’s Trail Camp, take a minute to look around. Some scattered foundation ruins of Hoegee’s Camp are still intact. This is a campground with established fire pits, so a neat place to stop if you like backpacking. Hang your hammocks up between the lush trees and enjoy the silence of the forest. It’s absolutely beautiful.
From here you continue on to Upper Winter Creek Trail which will eventually drop you off at the parking lot. For this alone I was overwhelmed with joy!
I can honestly say that this is my favorite hike at Chantry Flats. It is absolutely beautiful. The changes in scenery keep it interesting and fun. This is very doable for the whole family.
Parking is crazy on the weekend, get there early or plan on parking an additional mile away in hopes of getting street parking which is very limited. Adventure pass is required and is available on site or at REI /​Big 5 sporting goods.
Bring lots of water, sunscreen, bug repellent, and a great attitude because this hike is a must do!

Relatively easy 5-​mile loop that starts from Chantry Flats. I hiked starting at Upper Winter Creek – I think doing the loop the opposite way (starting at Lower Winter Creek) would be more of a workout, but I’ll have to confirm that for you later. The trailhead is up behind the picnic area, attached to a paved road.
It’s a well-​maintained, mstly-​shaded trail, but definitely bring some bug repellent because although you can’t SEE the creek from the water until you venture into the depths, the gnats are a-​plenty wayyy before then.
Note: I got there at 9:30am on a Sunday and had to park about a mile away, adding some unshaded trekking to that hike. So, you should be bringing sunscreen ANYWAY, but definitely pack it in if you’re not getting there at the crack of dawn (Gates open at 6am).
You need an Adventure Pass to park ANYWHERE in that area! If you don’t have a yearly one (you can buy them at REI), I advise driving up to the ranger’s station, stop in a 15-​min spot and buy a $ 5 day pass, then driving BACK down to your parking spot. Unless, of course, you don’t mind adding 2 – 4 miles of paved, car-​occupied road to your hike. UP TO YOU.

This hike is a 5 mile roundtrip loop with 1,000′ elevation gain/​loss.
It is a fairly leisurely hike without much difficulty. Parts of it will get your heart rate going, but it’s not difficult. The trail itself is mostly smooth dirt without loose rocks. Most of the way is single file. It is mostly shaded and is a peaceful wooded walk with lots of trees and streams to cross. The destination is Hoegee’s Campground area.
tip — if you want to make it a longer, more challenging hike: once you pass through the campground to continue on, you will see a sign (designating the Lower Zion Trail Junction) and a fork in the trail. If you go left, you will continue on Hoegee’s Loop Trail. If you go right, then the hike will eventually take you past Sturtevant Falls (it’s worth seeing) via the Gabrielino Trail and back to your starting point for a total of about a 10 mile hike.
parking — small lot at Chantry Flats that requires an adventure pass

I wanted to do something different and I knew that there were a few hikes from Chantry Flats that I have not yet done. This was my choice and I am happy as can be that I decided to do this hike. However, I am not upset that I didn’t go for Mt Zion as well as it would have only been an extra 3 miles, but I have that to look forward to next time.
This trail is roughly 6 – 7 miles from what I can tell. That works well for me. It was also easy going enough that I was able to rock this trail in a lil over an hour and a half. Moving solo on it definitely helped. I also believe that you will travel through about 2000′ elevation change, but that is a conservative estimate.
As this is a loop you can take the easy or the hard way. Starting off with a short uphill then a long downhill finishing with a hard uphill or the inverse. I went for the inverse.
This means I descended the hill that is the start of Sturtevant Canyon and then I began the climb up to Hoegees Campground. You then pass the campground and the Mt Zion exit (only another 1 ½ miles each way). You peel back and up to the top of the ridgeline passing the Mt Wilson turnoff. Once passed the Mt Wilson turnoff, you begin a descent towards Chantry Flats. This is the perfect area for some trail running if you are sure footed. One side has a precipitous drop, but a 2′-5′ wide trail that is mostly rock free makes it an easy jog.
The trail has canopy coverage for 4/​5s of the route or more. This makes it a great place to go on a hot day. You also will cross Lower Winter Creek numerous times. There are also a couple of pools that you could likely dive into if you needed a bit of a cooling off period. Its also nice that at the bottom of the big hill from Chantry Flats there is a restroom and a second restroom at Hoegees Campground.
There are a lot of lush and verdant parts of this trail. A couple of animals were easily spotted on it as well. I saw a bunch of chipmunks and a ton of birds. There may have been others but I didn’t see them.
This trail is definitely the road less traveled here. I loved that part a lot personally. Especially for the direction that I was headed. I can also see that this is a trail I can do with my daughter but we will need to go in the opposite direction after I have trained her up to going this kind of distance.
So get off your couch and check it out one of these days. It is well worth exploring something new. Its also awesome on the descent back to Chantry Flats as you get a brilliant view down Santa Anita Canyon towards it while on the way back. I think you will love it. I sure did.

Not our intended hike for the day. We were off to Hermit Falls and followed the little red Unilocal marker to the general area that we thought it would be. We ended up at Chantry Flat, a parking lot, picnic, information area that serves as the beginning for several trails. We had already hiked at Sturtevant Falls so we did not want to do a repeat since we had done than one a couple of months ago. Instead, we found a marker that led to Hoegee’s camp. I guess if I would have just read a couple of reviews I would have been alerted to the fact that we were only a couple of hundred feet away from the Hermit Falls trail. Next time I guess.
The hike was great. A little under 2 hours. A 6 mile loop with great views and a couple of good hills. If you start the loop from the top of Chantry Flat, you have the pleasure of ending up at the bottom of the road. Anyone who has hiked around there knows the final incline from the bottom of the access road to the parking lot is a doozy. I forgot how much I didn’t enjoy it the last time I climbed after hiking Sturtevant Falls. It’ll humble you.
The only thing I didn’t like was the discarded water bottles along the trail. Take your trash with you!

Excellent hiking trail! Nestled in the Santa Anita Canyon in Sierra Madre, this is good as it gets.
Read my review for Chantry Flats! I don’t want to write another review, that will end up being redundant. But I highly recommend it, as all the trails up in there.
One to go on a hot day, because it’s mostly shaded. Beautiful nature environment and lots of wildlife. You can bring your dog, your kids, groups or come w/​a buddy. (females should never travel alone — I say this in all my hiking reviews).
It’s a long one, but an easy to moderate level. Also connect to the more challenging trails like Mt. Wilson.
I’ve exhausted myself in the Chantry Flats review, but it’s all true and true to this trail as well.
Get the annual pass, because you’ll want to come back again and again.
Bring lots of water, sunscreen for the open parts, sun cap and crack a smile when you see other folks.
Make it a day and plan a picnic (I’d ask the people at the General store what the rules are).
I highly recommend getting there early weekend mornings, right before light comes.
Embrace it for all it has to offer and Enjoy!

I think I found a new hiking trail to trek on! Yahoooo for me! Any other Unilocalers are welcome to join me on my hiking adventures!
Different sections you’ll be passing through:
1) Chantry Flat
2) Gabrielino Trail
3) Roberts Camp
4) Ascend Lower Winter Creek to
5) Hoegees Camground (Plenty of picnic tables and can enjoy a nice snack before heading back)
6) Climb up the South Slope of Winter Creek
7) Trail will eventually descend back to the Chantry Flats
This hiking trail is mostly shaded throughout the 5 mile hike and you’ll be hiking single file. What’s great about this hike is that it’s a loop trail so you won’t get lost and basically enjoy mother nature at her finest! Along the way, you’ll be crossing streams, and be very cautious of poison oak (3 leaves… let it be), stinging nettle, and in the summer… SNAKES!
Side note: I had the chance to bump into Dan from Dan’s Hiking Pages and shook his hand! *Two thumbs up*

This hike wasn’t as strenuous on my legs and it was on my car. The drive uphill in the heat caused my car to overheat and the coolant valve was blown when I parked it on a 45 degree angle on the side of the road. But I digress…
This trail is just a little over 5 miles and the nice part is that, as the name indicates, it’s a loop so you just keep going until you get back to the original point. You don’t have to turn around and go back the same way.
It does get confusing even if you follow the signs. Just ask people around you or you can get clearer instruction at Dan’s Hiking Page (No I don’t know this guy I just love his site) at
. That really helped me to not get lost.
Most of the trail, fortunately, in shaded but the beginning 0.5 miles or so of the trail has a lot of sun exposure. Wear lots of sunscreen.
Hoegee’s Camp is located almost at the half way point and is really quite unimpressive. It’s a small area with benches and lots of bear warnings. We luckily didn’t run into any bears like we did in Monrovia.

This is my new favorite trail! It’s a beginner level loop that is mostly in the shade. 5 – 6 miles. Since it is a loop you can star either way. We chose to walk down the fire road and followed the trail to Hoegee’s campground from there. Stay left on the trail after the camp and you won’t get lost. There are cute cabins, streams, meadows and shade. As you get towards the end of the loop, there are gorgeous views of the entire valley from above. We finished the trail in two hours at the top of the picnic area near the parking lot. Next time, which there definitely will be many, i might try the trail backwards. I suggest starting early. Loved it!

Upper Winter Creek to Lower Winter Creek (or vise versa) is also known as the Hoegee loop. It’s about 5 miles from parking lot and done in either direction.