Trip to Upper Bear Creek & Bear Creek Narrows

[MtGoatMan]

Back in April I did a 2 night trip to Upper Bear Creek in the San Gabriel Wilderness. I’m finally getting around to writing up a TR for it, so here it is!

I got inspired to check out this area after seeing other people’s reports (Dima, carlswindle), so while the Bridge Fire closure at my beloved East Fork was going on I decided to come here for my usual solo ramblings.


The trail up to Smith Saddle is in great shape. I enjoyed the views looking down and across the canyon.

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Baldy made an appearance

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I found a couple ticks on me as I made my way up to Smith Saddle. It didn’t really surprise me given the time of year, but it definitely wasn’t a welcome sight. I’d never even seen a tick in the San Gabriels, but little did I know what was in store for me later on.

It was getting warm already as I made my way up to Smith Saddle. I didn’t bring a ton of water as I knew there would be water down at Bear Creek. Looking back, I should’ve probably brought a bit more to be safe.

I made it to Smith Saddle and took in the view over the heart of the San Gabriel Wilderness. You could see the scars of the Bobcat Fire, but it’s definitely on its way to recovering. This area really feels like the rugged interior of the range. I took in the views with a bit of a feeling of nervous anticipation - that I was entering in to a true wilderness area (relatively) far from civilization.

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View to Twin Peaks and San Gabriel Wilderness

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Trail view across San Gabriel Wilderness

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Closeup of Twin Peaks and Waterman

It was really interesting taking in the view of Waterman from this side, you can really gain an appreciation for how rugged and wild the upper Bear Creek drainages are!

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I assume this box stores firefighting tools

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Making my way down the trail to Upper Bear Creek

Starting down from Smith Saddle, the trail was still in good shape. There’s been a lot of trail maintenance done on this trail, and you can really tell!

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The views down across the San Gabriel Wilderness were awesome and felt very rugged and remote.

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Soon I came across this little buzzworm — he was still cold in the shade and didn’t move. Luckily I had enough room to get around him.

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Do you see the rattler?

The snake sighting coupled with the ticks and sporadic poison oak reminded me of the importance of constant vigilance. As I made my way down the trail, I was constantly scanning left to right for these hazards.

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Further down the trail there was more evidence of fire damage. The manzanitas or whatever they were used to be super tall before the fire. There’s a bit of red flagging to help you stay on the trail here.

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It was about here that I had a few more ticks on me. Luckily I was wearing long sleeves and pants, as I knew that it was likely that this trail was a bit overgrown, but it was still tedious to look down at my arms and legs every few minutes to look for ticks.

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View south to Bear Creek towards West Fork

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Huge boulder that’s going to come down some day

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Finally after about 5 miles I made it down to Upper Bear Creek. The trail was in decent condition most of the way down to the creek, but I didn’t really know where to find the Upper Bear campsites.

There was a few spots getting right down to the creek where I had to walk through a bunch of poison oak to get down. Between poison oak and ticks, I guess I’d rather choose poison oak! But I was still extra vigilant looking for the darn ticks.

I knew the rough area of the campsites, but I’m not sure if I found them exactly. I walked downstream for a bit, looking for flat areas that were relatively brush free to set up my camp.

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This was where I decided to make my camp. Luckily no ticks here!

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After setting up my camp and resting for a bit, I headed upstream towards the Bear Creek Narrows. I knew they weren’t that far up but wasn’t sure how far.

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Back in April, there was a great flow in Bear Creek. It definitely started to remind me of my ole stomping grounds at the East Fork — a good choice for me to visit right now.

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Getting narrower

The Upper Bear Creek gorge is beautiful. There’s no trail here really but it wasn’t difficult making my way up the creek. I like to walk in creeks anyway, and there’s never brush to contend with if you’re in the water.

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I made it into the narrows. It really reminded me of those most famous Narrows at the East Fork, maybe a smaller yet more narrow and precipitous version of them. But out here there were no prospectors or anyone else that I’d see. I had it all to myself.

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It wasn’t difficult moving through the narrows, but there definitely was lots of water flowing. This is near where I turned back. I could’ve continued for a bit but I didn’t feel like swimming and I was alone. Always better safe than sorry! It’d be cool to come back with others and keep pressing on.

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Beautiful narrows

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I got back to my camp and had a peaceful evening. Lots of frogs during the night and of course the beautiful sound of the creek rushing by.

The next day I set off south down the main fork of Bear Creek to explore. I wasn’t sure how far I’d make it, with a vague goal of maybe making it to the Lower Bear Camp. The going was easy and lovely, mostly walking in the creek and scrambling around huge boulders.

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I kept going for a few hours, passing the junction with West Fork Bear Creek. It’d be neat to check that out too someday. I know there’s been narco camps up there but I wonder if they still are active in 2025.

I didn’t take many pics this day, and turned back before Lower Bear Camp in an area where the canyon widened substantially.

I made it back to my camp and was sitting enjoying the early evening when I noticed a petroglyph on a big boulder right in front of my camp!

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Pretty faint but that was the general view of it



Close up shots

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I have no idea how old it is or what it means, but it was wonderful to sit and contemplate. I wonder if my campsite had been a campsite for the local native people, as it was one of the few large flat areas along the creek. This was the third or fourth time I’ve come across petroglyphs in the local mountains, and it’s always an epic feeling. The sight of the petroglyph felt like a sign from the universe that I was in the right place at the right time, just where I needed to be.

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The next morning I headed out early. I knew it would get hot going up to Smith saddle.

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Is this Triplet Rocks?

I was on the lookout for ticks. I don’t remember where I first found them on me this day, but after a bit of time I was finding ticks on me every few minutes. By the time I got to Smith Saddle, I had lost count with how many ticks I saw. There was at least 20-25 that I found on me that day! The trip up to Smith Saddle was exhausting, both from the difficulty of doing this with a heavy bag but also for the extra drain of vigilance looking out for ticks, poison oak, and snakes.

I also barely had enough water with me. I should’ve brought another few more bottles to filter. I had enough water to make it to the end, but I definitely could’ve done with more.

I was so relieved to make it back to Smith Saddle. It was much easier making it down back to the car.

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Overall, I enjoyed my trip out to Bear Creek but DID NOT enjoy all the ticks. At times, focusing on the ticks was taking up the better part of my attention and energy, so I wasn’t able to enjoy myself as much. Also, i didn’t enjoy hiking back up to Smith Saddle with a big backpack. I’d definitely return to Upper Bear Creek but maybe not for an overnight with a heavy bag. I’d be interested in coming up from the West Fork.

You definitely get a great feel for the rugged nature of the San Gabriel Wilderness. Being in the middle of the steep chaparral covered canyons made me feel like I was really remote and isolated. I didn’t see anyone for the whole 3 days I was out. I doubt many people make it down to Upper Bear Camp most of the time.

Would definitely return to the area, but I compare everywhere I visit in the SGs with my beloved East Fork, which is hard to beat!

[Taco]

Very cool! Was just thinking of going here. The water looks great and the petroglyph is badass. Right on.

[MtGoatMan]

It’s definitely worth checking out! Just watch for the ticks and it would definitely get hot coming up/down to Smith Saddle sometimes.

[dima]

Yes those are the triplets. I think you call them out as "Twin Peaks" in a few of the photos. Thanks for the report. I've actually never been to the narrows above West Fork Bear Creek. Should go check them out.

[MtGoatMan]

Yes those are the triplets. I think you call them out as "Twin Peaks" in a few of the photos. Thanks for the report. I've actually never been to the narrows above West Fork Bear Creek. Should go check them out.

Ah yes thanks Dima! Yeah I wasn’t sure if I was looking at Twin or Triplets.

The narrows are really easy to reach from where the Upper Bear trail reaches the creek. It’s not too far at all upstream

[JeffH]

Thanks for the writing, definitely another place I need to go see. I like the secluded backpack spot.

[MtGoatMan]

Thanks for the writing, definitely another place I need to go see. I like the secluded backpack spot.

Thanks for reading, Jeff! It’s definitely secluded back there. Just watch out for ticks.

[dima]

I just went over there. Ran out of time, and turned around right before the really narrow section; wasn't sure where it was, but apparently I was practically there already. Lots of poison oak and poodle dog and stinging nettle. The river is real nice though. It was 90deg when I started running up the trail, so taking off all your clothes, and going swimming was amazing. Lots of dragonflies too

[David R]

I just went over there. Ran out of time, and turned around right before the really narrow section; wasn't sure where it was, but apparently I was practically there already. Lots of poison oak and poodle dog and stinging nettle. The river is real nice though. It was 90deg when I started running up the trail, so taking off all your clothes, and going swimming was amazing. Lots of dragonflies too

You can't tell us that you went swimming with all your clothes off and not share a picture.

[dima]

I needed you there to take my photo.

[Taco]

TECHNICALLY that's a Damselfly, Naked Dima.