San Antonio Creek flows from a sub-alpine bowl high in the San Gabriel Mountains, through a spectacularly rugged canyon studded with big cone Douglas fir, and then over 75-foot-high San Antonio Falls.
This scenic waterfall is a popular day hike destination, but more ambitious visitors may climb the Baldy Bowl Trail past the historic Sierra Club Ski Hut to the 10,064 foot-high summit of Mt. San Antonio (a.k.a. Mt. Baldy). On clear days, visitors to this upper watershed and peak may enjoy views all the way to Catalina Island.
An area of high ecological significance identified by the Forest Service, the upper San Antonio Creek watershed provides important habitat for Nelson’s bighorn sheep and the recently discovered San Gabriel Mountain slender
salamander.
The Forest Service found San Antonio Creek to possess outstanding scenery and recreational values. The definitive guide Trails of the Angeles describes the Baldy Bowl Trail as one of the most scenic and historic trails in
the San Gabriel Mountains.
