Near Brown Mountain Road
Top of El Prieto Trail before you start hiking the saddle
Near Brown Mountain Road
View at at the Junction of Fern Truck and Brown Mountain Trail. There are two benches to appreciate the view.
Near Brown Mountain Road
The view south towards Altadena from the Brown Mountain Saddle.
Near Brown Mountain Road
Brown Mountain Saddle looking north
Near Brown Mountain Road
One of the many reasons I love running and hiking up Brown Mountain Road is the view of my neighborhood.

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Hike Trail

Brown Mountain Road

4.3 (4 Ratings)
Rolling fire road with views over Pasadena and LA.
4.7
mi
Distance
1,328
ft
Gain
moderate
Difficulty
BirdingRiver/CreekViewsWildlife

Route Details

Flatter
Steeper
4.69mi
Distance
1,328ft
Elevation Gain
279ft
Elevation Loss
35%
Max Grade
2,908ft
High Point
1,860ft
Low Point
Path Type
Point to Point
Description
You can access the Brown Mountain road by parking at Millard Campground and heading past the campgrounds and up the obvious dirt road, or by parking on the East side of JPL in the parking lot on Windsor Avenue. From here, follow the Gabrielino National Recreation Trail for about a mile, then stay right and take either the Fern Truck Trail or El Prieto until it joins with Brown Mountain. Brown Mountain fire road contours along Brown Mountain, providing views of Pasadena and LA. Although it's never too steep, it gains considerable elevation. Overall it feels quite remote for how close it is to the city and makes a nice connector between other trails in the area. Past the Brown Mountain saddle (where the trail meets with Fern Truck Trail), the terrain gets a bit rougher and after a few miles, it ends on a ridge. The Ken Burton Trail connects this point to the Gabrielino National Recreation Trail, making a nice loop back towards JPL.

Route Conditions

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Contributors
Justin Jasper