East Canyon - #EastCanyon

Socal - Los Angeles County - Santa Clarita NickNames: #EastCanyon east canyon

The trailhead is off of The Old Road a little bit south of Towsley Canyon and about a mile north of where I-5 and the 14 cross over one another.

16 Review(s)6 Photo(s)Login

• Trail UpdateMust Have Been A Lucky Day-Thanks for the knowledge Gringo and Scott.

  I went up there again last Saturday and the fence to the west of the junction and water tank was once again padlocked closed. Bummer. But based on your feedback I probably shouldn't have been in there in the first place. It kind of sucks that there is all this rideable land unavailable to a property tax paying citizen of Santa Clarita. I thought all of that land was part of the Antonovich Reserve or someting?
  afit45

  Posted:11/09/2010

• Trail UpdateEast Canyon To SFV-You got it. Most of the land up there is private property. You have correctly identified the only trails open to the public in that area.
  old gringo a 58 year old Cross-Country Rider

  Posted:11/06/2010

• Trail UpdateAnybody else want to chime in? There's the gas company land, which is private and patrolled, the Oat Mtn. oil field, which is private and patrolled, two private ranches which are signed but I dunno about patrolling, and one un-signed but fenced ranch between East Canyon and Simi Valley, and those are just the ones I know about. The patrollers lied to you. The only legal route I can think of would take you up East Canyon or Weldon Motorway, over to Mission Point, down Maria del Campos, west on a combination of streets and short disconnected trails to Johnson Motorway, and over Rocky Peak via Johnson. If someone else knows of a different route, I'd be delighted to learn of it.
  ScottR1

  Posted:11/05/2010

• Trail UpdateEast Canyon-Santa Clarita-I road this trail twice this week. The first time last Sunday morning I took the single track around the gate to the left of the water tank and discovered two more miles of fire road that lead to Mission Peak. Amazing view of the San Fernando Valley at 7 am. I rode it again on Wednesday and, amazingly, the gate to right of the water tower was OPEN! I've ridden this trail probably 15 times since February and I have never seen the gate open up there. Of course, I had to see where it went. Again, an amazing view of the SF Valley but on that day I could see downtown LA the Ocean and I believe I was looking at Catalina Island. Breathtaking. I would have stayed up there all day but I had to pick up my kids from school. On the way down I ran into two Volunteer MTB Patrol guys and they told me the open trail goes all the way to Simi Valley. I'm riding again on Saturday morning to see how far it goes. My favorite trail in the SCV!

  
  afit45 a 45 year old Weekend Warrior riding a Trek 4 Series hardtail from Valencia

  Posted:11/05/2010

• Trail UpdateEast Canyon-Parked below Towsley Canyon to avoid the parking fee. Rode up East Canyon to the Mission Peak connector and then down Weldon Canyon. East Canyon is in great shape and is a good climb! Weldon is very soft and sandy, however. Definitely want to check out the singletrack starting from the oak tree near the top next time! Saw 3 riders, 3 hikers, 1 rattlesnake.
  Steve K a 23 year old Racer riding a Giant Trance X3 from Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo, CA)

  Posted:08/19/2010

• Trail UpdateBe Careful-This is my favorite trail in Santa Clarita so far. I try to do the East Canyon/Weldon Canyon loop often. It is so beautiful and serene.

  But be warned, the trails of Weldon Canyon are very soft and sandy from the recent usage by the heavy fire equipment. I'm thankful for the fire fighters, but be cautious until the next rain.

  I had a pretty bad fall today, cracked the old helmet going downhill.
  danielmidi a 27 year old Cross-Country Rider riding a Cannondale from Santa Clarita

  Posted:10/17/2008

• Trail UpdateThis was a great trail! Hilly from the get go and all the way to the top but worth it. Real nice views. I did encounter a coyote and a rattler other than that no other critters. Well maintained trail.
  yelojersy a 47 year old Die-hard Enthusiast riding a Specialized FSR from saugus

  Posted:04/18/2008

• Trail UpdateNice Ride-Awesome, I love that ride, saw a big a$* Bobcat, I think I scared it more than it scared me, I hope. But clear day and the view was/is bitchen. Trail was rutted from the previous rains but of no consequence. Freakin great! I love this trail, plenty of areas to explore of the bike as well. Get out there, where ever there is!
  Gomez a 30 year old Cross-Country Rider riding a Hard Tail from Santa Clartia

  Posted:02/03/2007

• Trail UpdateMtn Lion Sighting...-Started up East cyn last night just before 6pm. A couple of us have been doing this ride once or twice a week for the past month or so. The cruise up the bottom part of the ride was its usual mellow warm up before you hit the back of the canyon and start the short grind. As I approched the Weldon Cyn turn off near the top of the first climb, my friend who put about 20-30 seconds on me by then was very sitting still on his bike seat. When I caught up to him, he was still shaking. Fifteen feet in front of him was a LARGE cat walking up the road. We had a strong breeze in our face so we were down wind of it and it did not notice the lights. It scampered up the road quickly when it heard us talking. Large tracks were all the way up the road for about 50 feet to a large flat area where it went over the side and dissappeared. Kinda scary! I've seen deer, bobcat, and the usual critters up and around there but this was a first. Be carefull and keep your eyes open on this ride!!

  
  Dirtshark a 43 year old Die-hard Enthusiast

  Posted:02/17/2006

• Trail UpdateNice Cool June Gloom Ride...-I did the East Canyon/Weldon Canyon Loop once again Wednesday June 30. This time I went with two buds of mine Sean and Jeff both essentially first-timers, but nevertheless we all had fun. We climbed past the intersection of East and Weldon Canyons to see the new trail cut across the hillside connecting to O'Melveny Park. It looked pretty decent but I am holding it off until next ride.

  We started our ride at 8:15am about 60 degrees with a little wind and the cloudcover stayed out all day along with a pretty constant temperature. Great weather for riding, except for the limited views. Ride time was 2 hours 20 minutes.

  Started off at the trailhead at East Canyon. A sign is up with rules for the open space Santa Monica Conservancy area which suggests a $3 parking fee to a parking post, but no envelopes were available so free parking. We were the first vehicle at the trailhead and there were about 4 vehicles when we returned. East Canyon is still pretty much in the same condition as my last ride except a bit dryer in the brush and sandier on the path. Climb up out of the canyon past a big meadow and to a big oak at the top where you hit Rice Canyon. Continue on to Weldon Canyon. Weldon Canyon follows the power lines down the hill and was much sandier compared to last ride about a month or two ago. We once again stopped at the lookout post to rest although we couldn't see much. The first mile of the trail is up and down across the ridge and then it is a lot of steady descent with steep and curvy areas. Saw a lot of scat on East Canyon trail but a ton more footprints on Weldon Canyon. We saw plenty of coyote and deer tracks as well as some mountain lion tracks. We thought we heard a mountain lion but can not confirm anything. We did later on down see 3 deer. There are two forks in this trail on the way down. One is the Sunshine Canyon Trail which by map just ends up at the landfill in Sunshine Canyon. The power lines follow this trail all the way down and follow Weldon Canyon only along the ridge. The second fork is about halfway down Weldon Canyon and is a private road of BFI waste company leading also to the dump. We saw the deer at this fork. Weldon Canyon was cool and breezy just like the rest of the day and a good doubletrack kind of ride, just a little sandier than last time. To complete this loop, take paved road from the trailhead across the bridge over Interstate 5. Make a left on the Old Road and descend this highway for another mile or so to the parking lot for East Canyon. Overall, a good loop. I hope to go exploring some more with the new over-the-hill trail and the Rice Canyon loop.
  Ride rating: Intermediate
  Ride distance: 5.5 Elevation change: 1500
  Dirt Road=10% Paved Path=10% Truck Trail=80%
  Steve K a 17 year old Weekend Warrior riding a Mongoose XR-100 from Canyon Country (Santa Clarita), CA

  Posted:06/30/2004

• Trail UpdateNow Open, New Trail!!-Great News, There are new trails built around the So Cal Gas fences. We were up there on 6/27 and it looks like the trails were built last week sometime. So it’s open to O’Melveny again.
  Ride rating: Intermediate
  Steve M a 52 year old Cross-Country Rider riding a Santa Cruz SuperLight from Newhall, CA

  Posted:06/29/2004

• Trail UpdateParking Fee...-Parking fee now in affect... East Canyon charges you a 3-5 dollar fee per day to park at the trailhead now. yearly passes are available however. for more info, signs are posted at the trailhead. as far as territorial issues, we are still discussing the socal gas fence. please refer to the message board post under mountain biking.
  Steve K a 16 year old Weekend Warrior riding a Mongoose XR-100 from Canyon Country (Santa Clarita), CA

  Posted:05/15/2004

• Trail UpdateEast Canyon Olmelveny Mission-I spoke with a super nice person at so cal gas today. she said she would look into it. standy by and pray they let us have access through gate (at least) to and from east canyon/olmelveny.
  ticky a 43 year old Die-hard Enthusiast riding a blur from santa clarita

  Posted:04/13/2004

• Trail UpdateEast/Weldon Cyns. & SOCAL GAS-Rode 04/07 (Wednesday).

  Intended ride: East Canyon to Mission Peak to Three
  Trees to Neon Wy. & O'Melvheny Park.

  What we did b/c of stupid SOCAL Gas Co. gate and closure: East Canyon/Weldon Canyon Loop Trail.

  yes, as Dirtshark said previously Socal Gas. Co. has erected a fence about 8ft. tall with barbed wire on top and extending about 100m in one direction down the hillside and at least 1/4 mile the other direction from what i could see. It is not climeable or really possible to get around the fence at all and sure not with a bike, so let's just assume they don't want anyone on the other side of the fence period. It shows. The fence is right next to the water towers and blocks access of the Mario De Campos trail which passes Mission Peak and Three Trees on its way to Neon Wy. and also blocks the route to Oat Mountain and any of the other peaks with communication towers. I guess the property is now owned by SOCAL gas and may no longer be private or parts of property next to the fence are private but cannot be reached from the East Canyon side. I am curious as to where you would hit a fence going up from Neon Wy. and coming down from Oat Mountain but this fence seems to cover a lot of space near the top, blocking many possible routes. I did descend the hillside where the fence went down and crawled past a tree to get on the other side, but its not really doable by bike. Better off just to not go up there anyways. So basically when you ride to the water towers from East Canyon or Weldon Canyon, you can't really go on and the best idea is to make a loop.

  Now about the details of the loop ride: Started East Canyon about 8am. Saw 2 other mtbr's and 3 hikers at the trailhead. East Canyon Trail is beautiful. The fire damage is barely even noticeable anymore and most of the canyon is shady and green. First section travels through oak forest near a creekbed which actually did have water in it. Very green in this area. Easy riding. Trail continues and begins a climb which just increases in difficulty as you ascend. You will pass a large green meadow and a couple more oaks. Good views of East Canyon, Interstate 5, and the community of Santa Clarita. Meet intersection with Rice Canyon near the top of the hill. Rice Canyon is another trail in the Santa Clarita Woodlands/Santa Monica Conservancy to make a loop with. Just past Rice Canyon is a viewpoint. On a clear day, like this one we saw highway 126, interstate 5, Santa Clarita Valley, Towsley canyon,
  Oat Mountain, and all the other mountains along the top ridge. Fire damage was still a bit evident as it was a little worse to the north. We continued on past Weldon Canyon Trailhead and then got to the water tanks and huge fence. Turned back and decided to ride down Weldon Canyon. Weldon Canyon is a doubletrack ride and a quick downhill. As an uphill it is probably advanced if we were to call East Canyon and intermediate climb. Weldon Canyon is a very sunny ride in a chaparrel setting. At the top of Weldon Peak, there is a lookout hut with a bench and shade to stop at. Pretty nice work from the Santa Clarita Woodlands/ LA County Supervisor Michael Antonvich who helped to get the land and the Santa Monica Conservancy. (I read a sign at the top). Weldon Canyon is a little technical but nothing much. Just a quick speedy ride like East Canyon would be as a downhill. One bad thing about Weldon Canyon is that despite its great views of everywhere around, the landfill in Sunshine Canyon takes up a lot of the view and sometimes Weldon Canyon is a little smelly. Anyways, Weldon Canyon comes up at Coltrane Rd. To get back to East Canyon Trailhead, take Coltrane rd. bridge across the 5 Freeway and make a left on the Old Rd. Descend about a mile and you're back. Mileage for this loop ride was around 5 miles. East Canyon climb is about 2.25, Weldon Canyon is 1.75 and about 1 mile of highway. Good ride overall. Enjoy! Just hope we can do something about the fence. Maybe we can write letters to get our trails back for mountain biking and hiking.
  Ride rating: Intermediate
  Ride distance: ~5 Elevation change: East Canyon climbs 1200, Weldon descends 900, Old Rd. descends 250
  Singletrack=(Double track) 40% Dirt Road=45% Paved Path=15%
  Steve K a 16 year old Weekend Warrior riding a Mongoose XR-100 from Canyon Country (Santa Clarita), CA

  Posted:04/09/2004

• Trail UpdateThere is a new gate at the top next to the water tank. It blocks the way to Oat Mtn. It also blocks the way to three trees/mission peak. It says property of so cal gas co. This should make the job easy for the guy in the white truck.
  Dirtshark a 41 year old Cross-Country Rider

  Posted:04/05/2004

• Trail UpdateEast Canyon To Three Trees-The trailhead from The Old Road leads up a fire trail for a gradual climb for about a mile then starts getting a little steep and gets a little bit narrower. Go all the way up the trail (about 3 miles) until you get to a fork in the road. If you take it to the left, it will lead you to the dumping facility. If you keep going to the right until the second fork and take it to the left, it will lead you to Mission Peak/Three Trees. From there you can see the SF. Valley and on a clear day you can see the Santa Monica Mountains (Mulholland) and beyond!

  The single track heading south of Three Trees ends at the Sesnon St. and Neon Way trailhead in Granada Hills.
  Ride rating: Intermediate
  Ride distance: 16 miles Elevation change: 1200
  Singletrack=30-% Dirt Road=60% Truck Trail=10%
  Tino a 28 year old Weekend Warrior riding a 03' Specialized Epic from Granada Hills, Ca.

  Posted:11/13/2003