Things to bring: You will need an ADVENTURE PASS to properly park on the highway in the Angeles national forest mountains – you will need this for parking. Adventure pass can be purchased at Big Five, REI, and tons of other stores, just make sure to have it on hand.
“Bridge to nowhere” – the name implies that you’ll see a bridge at the end of a road. The destination point in itself intrigues anyone who’d like to venture into the unknown Bridge that has no destination. However it seems that everyone completely forgets to mention the treacherous, topogrphically challenging path winding along the river as you make your way.
The hike itself will be filled with as much excitement as the destination point. We had to climb around boulders, cross the river multiple times and walk some narrow paths along the way.
We also saw a couple of gold prospect camps. There were people sifting river sand for gold nuggets. A historical feature that drew the first waves of immigrants to California. The place is kind of surreal – starting with the name and ending with the actual experience.
The road to the bridge has been completely obliterated in a short span of time in the recent past. Parts of the former trail still can be seen here and there along the path. Hike to the destination-less bridge won’t be your regular hike since majority of the way you will have to hop from boulder to boulder crossing the river.
Bridge to nowhere with kids
Definitely not a hike that we’d recommend for parents with little kids. The scorching socal heat will blister any sensitive skin away, since a good portion of the trail lays out in the open. In fact it gets so hot that the company what runs the bungee jumping experience installed permanent Sun Covers on the bridge. Not the best place for toddlers.
Furthermore, the serpiginous hiking path presents plenty of traumatic opportunities where a little toddler or even a child lesser than a teenager would have a hard time overcoming. We did this hike couple of times without our son and definitely wouldn’t recommend brining children with you.
Nature in Angeles National forest.
We all have heard the stories of the mountain lions going after the hikers. An event that statistically speaking highly unlikely – nevertheless not entirely impossible.
Perhaps you’ll get as lucky as we were and see the bighorn rams… Reiterating the point of harsh environment and exposure to wild animals like the California rams should serve as a deterring prospect in case you’re planning to go on this hike with little children.
It is worth to mention the unraveling landscape while you are following the winding river bed path – a Maritain-like, surreal place The scenery truly depicts how quickly the nature is capable of re-acquiring the grounds stolen by the man.
If you are looking for more awesome hikes in San Gabriel mountains, check out Hike’s Peak website.
Trail head Address (aprox): Located off of Hwy 39
Bridge to Nowhere Hike Entrance, Camp Bonita Rd
South Antelope Valley, CA
Parking: Lots along Camp Bonita Rd (You will need adventure pass -day use)
Length: 4.5 mi (2 hours) one way; whole trip ~4-5 hours
Elevation: surprisingly minimal
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