Liebre Mountain

• HIKE LENGTH: 7 miles out-and-back; 1,700' elevation gain
• DIFFICULTY: Moderate
• SEASON: All year
• MAP: Trails Illustrated Angeles National Forest
• PERMIT: n/a

Features

The long whaleback of Liebre Mountain sprawls at the northwest corner of Angeles National Forest, where the Coast Ranges, the Tehachapis, and the San Gabriels all meld together in a wrinkled jumble. From Liebre’s broad summit, you look north across golden-brown Antelope Valley to the Tehachapis, curving from west to northeast in a great arc; and if the day is clear, the southern ramparts of the Sierra Nevada are visible on the distant skyline. Southward, you peer into the gentle ridge-and-canyon country of the Cienaga and Fish Canyon watersheds. The mountain itself is named for the 1846 Mexican land grant Rancho La Liebre; Liebre is Spanish for rabbit.

This is delightful mountain country, especially in spring, when snow patches linger on north slopes, the California black oak is clothing itself with reddish leaves, and aromatic white sage is blooming in the foothills. This is the home of the gray pine, a hardy dweller on semiarid slopes, easily identifiable by its gray-green needles, large cones (second in size only to the Coulter pine), and multiforked trunk. Also on the mountainside are big-cone Douglas-firs and some rather large scrub oaks. Occasional junipers and pinon pines bear testimony to the blending of mountain and desert here.

This trip follows the historic old Horse Trail, now part of the Pacific Crest Trail but once used to drive horses from the Tejon Ranch to Los Angeles, steeply up the forested north slope of Liebre Mountain from Horse Trail Flat to the summit. Do it in leisurely fashion to fully appreciate the desert view and the unique combination of forest trees and chaparral. It’s a long drive from Los Angeles, but the mountainside is remote, peaceful, and beautiful―well worth the effort.

Description

From Interstate 5, exit east on Highway 138. Go 4 miles, then turn right on the Old Ridge Route (County Road N2). Go 2.2 miles, then turn left onto Pine Canyon Road (also County Road N2). In 4.3 miles, at a crest of a hill just beyond mile marker 13.60, turn right (south) on a rutted dirt road. Follow the road 0.1 mile to its end at the Pacific Crest Trail (GPS N34 44.306 W118 39.357). If the road is washed out and your vehicle has low clearance, consider parking on the shoulder of Pine Canyon instead.

At the upper edge of the parking area is the Pacific Crest Trail, the southbound section climbing west, the northbound dropping southeast. Take the southbound PCT, which ascends the mountainside. (If you start descending, you’re on the wrong trail segment.) You switchback up through live oaks and gray pines, with far-ranging views over Antelope Valley to the Tehachapis. After 2.0 miles you pass Horse Camp to your right. A table and fire ring are here, but there’s no water. (Water can be found seasonally in Horse Camp Canyon via a short use trail from the camp.) You continue switchbacking upward, under a cool canopy of pines and oaks. Near the top your trail becomes an old jeep track. About 60 yards before you reach the crest and a junction with Forest Road 7N23, turn right and scramble to the small rock cairn that marks the 5,760+-foot summit of Liebre Mountain (GPS N34 42.755 W118 39.255). Beware of the foxtail barley around the summit, which has barbs that catch in your socks, or could injure a dog’s eyes. Return the way you came.

VARIATION: With a 5-mile car or bicycle shuttle, you can follow the Liebre hogback west and drop down to the Old Ridge Route at the former site of the historic Sandberg Inn, 0.5 mile south of the Pine Canyon turnoff. You can follow either the easy Liebre Mountain Truck Trail or the more scenic Golden Eagle Trail, an abandoned segment of the PCT that crisscrosses the dirt road. This route is 10 miles.