Angeles National Forest

Providing a mountainous backdrop to the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Angeles National Forest spans 700,000 acres of the rugged San Gabriel Mountains and offers an essential outdoor escape for over 17 million urban residents in the greater LA basin. Mount San Antonio, commonly known as Mt. Baldy, rises to 10,069 feet as the highest peak in the forest, while the Pacific Crest Trail traverses the high ridgeline offering panoramic views from the desert to the ocean. Dramatic canyons including Big Santa Anita, Eaton, and San Gabriel carve through the mountains, feeding seasonal waterfalls that draw hikers year-round, with Sturtevant Falls and Trail Canyon Falls among the most popular. The San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, designated in 2014, protects 346,000 acres within the forest, recognizing the landscape's critical importance for watershed protection, recreation, and biodiversity. The forest's chaparral-covered slopes are highly fire-prone, and major wildfires such as the 2009 Station Fire have shaped both the ecology and management of this urban-adjacent wildland. Despite its proximity to one of the world's largest cities, Angeles harbors mountain lions, black bears, bighorn sheep, and the endangered mountain yellow-legged frog in its remote upper watersheds.