Pacifico Mountain from Angeles Forest Hwy

Ride terrain: fireroad Access: Take Hwy 14 to Angeles Forest exit. Continue on Angeles Forest Highway for about 7 miles till it peaks out at a junction. The road to your right goes to Mt Gleason. Take the road to your left and go up about .5 miles and park on your right across from the fire station. The fireroad is 100 feet up the road at the closed gate.

The Ride

Starting at 5000' you will work your way up to the peak of Pacifico at 7100'. The first hour is a typical uphill fireroad, steady and constant but not too steep.As you gain elevation the vistas open up. Angeles Forest highway looms far below with Mt Gleason in the background. The paved road leading up to Mt Gleason is quite visable. The ride is mainly in the pines which is always a delight. At 3.2 miles the road peaks out at the intersection to Roundtop and Pacifico Mts. Enjoy the beautiful vistas at this shoulder. In the distance the Tehachapis are visable as is the Acton valley floor about 1/2 mile below.The elevation here is about 6200'. The ride eases considerately as you go left and head in the direction of Pacifico. The pines are gone as you work your way up on the shoulder of Pacifico. This road goes about 10 miles and eventually junctions at Angeles Crest Hwy at Chilao.You are now riding on the road where the guy dumped the Raider cheerleader after he killed her. After about 1.25 miles you reach the junction to the road leading to the summit of Pacico. Take in the view here. In front of you about 2000'below lies Loomis ranch. In the 1930's Mr Loomis would put you up in his ranch and feed you for 50 cents. Those days are long gone. The road going down there is private. I don't know who lives there now, but it sure is tempting to ride down there. You also get a good view of Mt Wilson here. For some reason it seems that Mt Wilson is higher but in actuality this spot is 700' above. Go left and get in your climbing mode because you got 600 more feet to go to the top. The road narrows up but you again enter into the pines.Its 1.5 miles to the top. At about 1 mile you crest to an opening where you get a nice view of the area. The last .5 mile to the top is a real grunt. Finally you arrive at the peak where you are greated to an unimproved campround with several picnic tables. Walk around the area and soak in the great views especially of the Antelope valley. The desert floor is 4000 feet below. That blue spec down there is Little Rock Reservoir.Find yourself a bolder under the Jeffrey pines and just kick back. After soaking up the high altitude enjoy the nice downhill. Go right at the juntion and continue back to the intersection with Round Top Mt. Go left and enjoy the 3 mile roller coaster ride to Round Top. Once again you are in the pines. The last 1 mile is a tough uphill to 6300' peak of Round Top. The top is barren but the view is nice. Stretching in front is Mt Gleason and Mt Lukins and the view looking down into Loomis is neat. You really get a nice view of the fireroad going to Angeles Crest Hwy. At this point you are probably pretty tuckered out so take a nice break because the 3 mile ride back wears on you. Once you get back to the junction just go left and enjoy the nice downhill to the starting point.

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