We only had time for short hike on March 5, so we went to Monrovia Canyon Park ($5 entrance fee)
Park in the first big parking lot past the road to Sawpit Dam/Trask Scout Camp. The first mile or so is on pavement as you hike past the dam and the entrance to Trask. This fire road takes you to White Saddle and beyond so you will see lots of bikes. At the closed gate beyond Trask one will find the single track that dives off into Sawpit Canyon and becomes the Ben Overturff trail. The trail is named after the early proprietor of the Deer Park trail resort, our ultimate destination.
The 2-2.5 mile trail is in great shape all the way to Deer Park:
Great views:
Twin Springs Deer Park Trail junction:
The old burro/horse corral at Deer Park:
A fine restroom is located on the fire road near Deer Park. We returned via the fire road:
All-in-all this a very nice, quick little 6.5 to 7 mile jaunt. There was about 1800' elevation gain. Normally, the trail is newt central but none were seen on this trip!