A Moderate/Advance Hike to
Dawn's Mine!
Distance: 4 miles | Elevation gain: 1509 ft
July 21 - Sunday 8:00 AM
Join us on Sunday, July 21 at 8:00 am for a challenging MODERATE hike to Dawn Mine.
Key Takeaways:
- Wear a wide brim hat. There are a lot of low hanging branches and spider webs.
- Bring poles. It is very uneven terrain. There are many river crossing traversing rocks and logs.
- Bring plenty of water
- Bring snack and a lunch.
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My Hike Rating System
Just to give you an idea how I rate hikes, here is my scale:
- Easy: Mostly flat, some slight gentle elevation gain.
- Moderate: Some elevation gain. Easy trail and fire roads. Not too steep for the most part.
- Moderate/Advance: Moderate elevation gain. Easy trail. Steep in parts. Some shade.
- Advanced: A lot of elevation gain across short distances. Some shade. A lot of sun.
- Advanced/Challenging: Hikes over 8 miles with challenging trails with a lot of elevation gain. Not much shade -- a lot of sun.
Where Do We Begin?
I could write up a description of the hike and the trail and give directions on where to park etc, but here is a great write-up of exactly this hiking loop I took years ago with plenty of photos and trail visuals by hikingguy.com.
I am starting this hike at 8 a.m. to try and beat the heat. Let's plan on meeting at the road's end and the beginning of the trailhead as indicated in the photo.
Keep an eye out for spaces on the side of the road on the way in. If the parking lot is full, you may need to return to it for parking.
In the event both appear to be full, you can continue left and away from the gate and head down, away from the gate, toward the campgrounds. You will find plenty-more roadside parking around the bend way before eventually hitting the picnic parking lot.
THE HIKE
This hike is a 4 mile in-and-out hike that offers plenty of shade throughout. It can be a 6 mile loop. We will take a vote on that option when we reach the mine.
We will start the hike by heading through the gate on the paved Mt Lowe Road. Continue on the road until you hit the trail head indicated in the photo below.
The trail to the mine offers much shade as we hike up the canyon with a generous canopy of trees. After reaching Dawn's Mine, and having our lunch, we can hike up and out of the gully and start to traverse switchbacks that are mostly in sun.
To recap:
- From the beginning we will make our way up Millard Canyon to Dawn Mine.
- We will take a vote whether to do the loop or return the way we came.
- We can take a fairly steep climb up to the old Dawn Mine Station on the Mt Lowe Railway,
- Then head back down along Sunset Ridge.
Below are three images from my adventure on this trail loop. This last photo is taken from the second half of the trail loop looking back at the shaded canyon from which we came.
The reason I tagged this as a moderate/advance hike is because:
- The trail is very narrow in a couple of parts,
- We will cross the creak a dozen times
- You will need to make three points of contact to keep your balance at times.
- Most importantly, we also need to be mindful of POISON OAK.
Again, please bring walking sticks to push away any poison oak you come across and help traverse the stream and a couple of very narrow terrain.
Here is the hiking description by
hikingguy.com
ANY QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions about this hike, please do not hesitate to reach out to me, your trip leader, Robert Sandoval. Send an email to:
Outreach-OCLB@greatoutdoors.org
Once you have signed up, I will share my cell phone so that we can stay in touch in the morning of the hike, in the event you are running late.
If there are any last-minute day-of cancellations, please let me know via text.
I look forward to being with old friends and making new friends.
Many thanks goes to Bryan Cooper pictured above who introduced me to this gem of a hike.
Robert Sandoval will be leading this hike.
Robert's email:
Outreach-OCLB@GreatOutdoors.org
What to Bring:
You should bring your ten essentials (Click here for the list.), a day pack, PLENTY OF WATER (2 to 3 liters), trekking poles, sunscreen, hat, an trail snacks.
Bring a Lunch.
Bring a Hiking Pole!
BRING PLENTY OF WATER!!!!
Carpooling is recommended. Parking is a challenge.
There is NO FEE for this trip.
