Mountain Biking: Monrovia to Red Box via the Red Box/Rincon Trail

Monrovia to Red Box via the Red Box/Rincon Trail

I rode this on May 12th 2001 on a thankfully grey and misty Saturday morning. Just the weather you need rather than hot burning sun, although I was a bit surprised when it rained on me a bit....a first in Southern California!

This ride is basically a combination of two rides I've already done. I was curious to see if I could complete the loop as I could see there was a way on the map. I started off up by Sawpit Dam, and basically repeated this ride here but then kept on going.

My plan was to ride up this trail in Monrovia, then make my way across the Red Box/Rincon Trail, to Red Box Ranger's Station. From there I would either go up to Mount Wilson and down the Toll Road, or return via the Angeles Crest Highway (2), but this would mean much more road work at the end which I wasn't keen to do. Knowing that this was going to be a pretty long ride, I elected to park somewhere where I could easily find my car at the end, and in a way that meant I wouldn't have to do any climbing at the end. So I parked this time at Foothill and Myrtle.Myrtle is the main drag through the town of Monrovia. This point is at about 500'. view from Sawpit Canyon Trail

The ride past the dam proceeded uneventfully and I was soon up at White Saddle Junction, then took the left fork (2N30) signposted 3 miles to the Red Box/Rincon Trail. The cloud formations this morning were pretty amazing - I was above the clouds looking down. It seemed fairly painless this time, and I was quickly at the top of 2N30 and junction with 2N24, the Red Box/Rincon Trail which was at about 4660'. It's amazing when you set your sites for a long ride how much energy you have, whereas if I'd decided just to stop at this point, I'm sure I'd feel I couldn't go on much. Cogswell Reservoir

From this point, I went left and the trail remains essentially flat for the next few miles, with some minor ups and downs. This trail is clearly an access road for the power pylons along the way. You pass the turn off to 2N31 which according to the map, just dead-ends in the middle of nowhere. Soon, it takes a turn north and you get to see Cogswell Reservoir way below, and by this time the trail is mostly descending. Soon it gets pretty woodsy and you keep on going down, down. This sucks as you give up all the valuable elevation gained! You end up chasing the west fork of the San Gabriel River, having to cross it several times (about 6" deep or so). The low point for me on this ride, was when I reached a campsite called Newcomb Pass, and it said "Red Box 6 miles". Somehow I thought it was going to be a lot closer and I could see in the distance that it was going to be up all the way. In fact, I'd descended to 2900', giving up 1760'. Native American musician at Red Box

You pass some interesting-looking hiking trails, like the single track Rim Trail, which gets you to the top of Mount Wilson in 3 Miles (must be pretty steep). Tempted as I was to go up here, I pressed on with my original plan, and eventually made it up to Red Box, the last mile or so being the worst by far. At Red Box, there's a Native American study center, and they'd set up a tent and were playing ghostly music in the mist - quite fun. Now, what to do once here. I felt I was completely out of uphill beans, but also didn't fancy the really tedious amount of road riding I'd have to do, to get back to Monrovia from La Canãda. After yet another Power Bar, the 5 mile road up the back of Mount Wilson isn't that steep, and it was an easy climb, although horrendously windy coming around some corners. Within 40 minutes, I was at the top of Mount Wilson and looking down on the murky world. From this point on, I just returned down the Mount Wilson Toll Road, which is described (on the ascent) here. From the bottom of this trail, I just coasted down Alta Dena drive, then turned left on Foothill, and followed it about 6 miles or so until I was back in Monrovia and found my car.

In total this ride ended up being 48 miles and 7000' elevation gain.

Alternative Way Home (tried this 6/2/2002). I was actually going to return via Cogswell Dam, but then met a guy on a bike who warned me that returning on Highway 39 on a Sunday requires keeping "both eyes open", as the weekends bring out the crazy guys who like to tool around in the muddy reservoirs along Highway 39 in their trucks. He suggested another option, to return via Chantry Flats, via a single track through Newcomb Pass. I had seen this single-track turning when Eve and I had been hiking around here, and it was signed to Newcomb Pass about 4 miles or so west of the junction where I'd met up with the RedBox/Rincon Trail.

This was a wonderful stretch of single-track, that in less than a mile arrived at some picnic tables at Newcomb Pass. From here, it was signed 6.5 miles to Chantry Flats. I'm not that good at Single Track, never been a particularly "technical" rider. This showed, as at one point, I came flying off my bike, and tumbled down a bank with my bike, about 10 feet, before my fall was arrested by trees. It's very scenic on the way down, passing close by Sturdevant Camp. When you reach Chantry, you have to do a short 0.6 mile climb up a paved road before you hit the road. Then from there, it was just downhill to Foothill Blvd, turn left, and I was soon back to the start in Monrovia.

Back to Bike Rides

My plan was to ride up this trail in Monrovia, then make my way across the Red Box/Rincon Trail, to Red Box Ranger's Station. From there I would either go up to Mount Wilson and down the Toll Road, or return via the Angeles Crest Highway (2), but this would mean much more road work at the end which I wasn't keen to do. Knowing that this was going to be a pretty long ride, I elected to park somewhere where I could easily find my car at the end, and in a way that meant I wouldn't have to do any climbing at the end. So I parked this time at Foothill and Myrtle.Myrtle is the main drag through the town of Monrovia. This point is at about 500'.
The ride past the dam proceeded uneventfully and I was soon up at White Saddle Junction, then took the left fork (2N30) signposted 3 miles to the Red Box/Rincon Trail. The cloud formations this morning were pretty amazing - I was above the clouds looking down. It seemed fairly painless this time, and I was quickly at the top of 2N30 and junction with 2N24, the Red Box/Rincon Trail which was at about 4660'. It's amazing when you set your sites for a long ride how much energy you have, whereas if I'd decided just to stop at this point, I'm sure I'd feel I couldn't go on much.
From this point, I went left and the trail remains essentially flat for the next few miles, with some minor ups and downs. This trail is clearly an access road for the power pylons along the way. You pass the turn off to 2N31 which according to the map, just dead-ends in the middle of nowhere. Soon, it takes a turn north and you get to see Cogswell Reservoir way below, and by this time the trail is mostly descending. Soon it gets pretty woodsy and you keep on going down, down. This sucks as you give up all the valuable elevation gained! You end up chasing the west fork of the San Gabriel River, having to cross it several times (about 6" deep or so). The low point for me on this ride, was when I reached a campsite called Newcomb Pass, and it said "Red Box 6 miles". Somehow I thought it was going to be a lot closer and I could see in the distance that it was going to be up all the way. In fact, I'd descended to 2900', giving up 1760'.