5.8 miles
Distance
59 ft
Climb
-3,963 ft
Descent
01:49:33
Avg time
Supporters, Builders, Maintainers & Land Managers of Sturtevant Trail

  • USFS
    Land Manager

Sturtevant Details

  • Activities
    • Mountain Bike
    • Hike
    • Trail Running
  • Riding Area
    Los Angeles County
    Altadena, California
  • Difficulty Rating
    Black Diamond rate
  • Trail Type
    Singletrack
  • Bike Type
    DH, AM
  • Direction
    Both Directions
    Popular direction shown
  • Dogs Allowed
    Yes
  • eBike Allowed
    No
  • Global Ranking
    #40678 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • #11293 in Hiking
  • Local Popularity
    20 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • 5 in Trail Running
    • 5 in Hiking

Sturtevant is a Classic Dark-side Downhill. Its got a bit of everything you find in the San Gabrial Mountains oldest "un-burnt" forest. This is a beautiful and challenging ride through a historic area.
This trail starts along the fence of the telescopes at the east end of the Mt Wilson Observatory.
The trail starts with some steep and loose switchbacks and as you get into the Pines. Then it gets into some flowier sections with some very serious exposier and rock gardens interspersed; so watch out. Then into some nice roots as you get down to the creek. Once you get under the oaks and cotton woods there is plenty of decomposed granite on old trail cut into the side of the mountain. When you get down to the bridge after the cabins the only way out though is by climbing a paved, closed, access road out to Chantrey Flats. There are lots of hikers that use this trail to summit Mt. Wilson, especially on the weekends. Best time to ride this trail is early mornings or weekdays and please always wear a bell to allow hikers to know of your approach and ride within a reasonable speed.

Access Info

This Trail is accessible best by Shuttle to the top of Mt. Wilson.
There Is a local shuttle company, SCOAoutdoors.net , that will service this ride from Altadena to Mt. Wilson as there is also service for the more popular "Frontside" trails as well.

Local Trail Association
Traditionally Indigenous Territory
More Stats for Sturtevant mountain bike trail trail
  • Altitude change
    -3,906 ft
  • Altitude min
    1,781 ft
  • Altitude max
    5,688 ft
  • Altitude start
    5,688 ft
  • Altitude end
    1,781 ft
  • Grade
    -12.8%
  • Grade max
    -68.8%
  • Grade min
    14.2%
  • Distance climb
    1,647 ft
  • Distance down
    5 miles
  • Distance flat
    604 ft
  • Avg time
    01:49:33
  • Avg reverse time
    04:27:35
  • view trail stats
Status:
on May 15, 2022
Dry
Avg: 4.5 (6 votes)
Your vote: 0

view (125)
close
  • Basemap 
3D
Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
  • Snow Packed
  • Snow Covered
  • Snow Cover Inadequate
  • Freeze/thaw Cycle
  • Icy
  • Prevalent Mud
  • Wet
  • Variable
  • Ideal
  • Dry
  • Very Dry
Trail Flow (Ridden Direction)
Trailforks scans users ridelogs to determine the most popular direction each trail is ridden. A good flowing trail network will have most trails flowing in a single direction according to their intension.
The colour categories are based on what percentage of riders are riding a trail in its intended direction.
  • > 96%
  • > 90%
  • > 80%
  • > 70%
  • > 50%
  • < 50%
  • bi-directional trail
  • no data
Trail Last Ridden
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine the last time a trail was ridden.
  • < 2 days
  • < 1 week
  • < 2 weeks
  • < 1 month
  • < 6 months
  • > 6 months
Trail Ridden Direction
The intended direction a trail should be ridden.
  • Downhill Only
  • Downhill Primary
  • Both Directions
  • Uphill Primary
  • Uphill Only
  • One Direction
Contribute Details
Colors indicate trail is missing specified detail.
  • Description
  • Photos
  • Description & Photos
  • Videos
Trail Popularity ?
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine which trails are ridden the most in the last 9 months. Trails are compared with nearby trails in the same city region with a possible 25 colour shades. Think of this as a heatmap, more rides = more kinetic energy = warmer colors.
  • most popular
  • popular
  • less popular
  • not popular
ATV/ORV/OHV Filter
Max Vehicle Width
inches

Radar Time
x Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public ridelogs from the past 6 months.
  • mountain biking recent
  • mountain biking (>6 month)
  • hiking (1 year)
  • moto (1 year)
Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public skilogs from the past 12 months.
  • Downhill Ski
  • Backcountry Ski
  • Nordic Ski
  • Snowmobile
Winter Trails
Warning A routing network for winter maps does not exist. Selecting trails using the winter trails layer has been disabled.
x Missing Trails
Most Popular
Least Popular
Trails are colored based on popularity. The more popular a trail is, the more red. Less popular trails trend towards green.
Jump Magnitude Heatmap
Heatmap of where riders jump on trails. Zoom in to see individual jumps, click circles to view jump details.
Trails Deemphasized
Trails are shown in grey.
disable
Only show trails with NO bikes.
enable

Save the current map location and zoom level as your default home location whenever this page is loaded.

Save
      Directions to sturtevant trailhead (34.225250, -118.056550)
      update trails status or condition

      Sturtevant Trail Reports

      statusdatedescription
      May 15, 2022 @ 8:50pm
      May 15, 2022
      		 Dropping in from the observatory does not indicate closed. It should. There is major erosion. Dry loose loam covered in leaves and pine cones...
      May 6, 2021 @ 2:51pm
      May 6, 2021
      		 Closed. Major erosion and tons of downed trees littering the trail.
      May 6, 2021 @ 2:49pm
      May 6, 2021
      		 Major erosion and tons of downed trees littering the trail.
      Apr 3, 2021 @ 3:54pm
      Apr 3, 2021
      		 trail closed ,a lot of downed trees , required digout and cleaning
      Jul 14, 2020 @ 4:05pm
      Jul 14, 2020
      		 The trail is very dry and dusty. There is overgrown vegetation at the top and bottom of the trail that needs to be cleared before it becomes...
      view all reports »

      Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

      Past Week
      • 0 rides
      •  
      6 Months
      • 0 rides
      •  
      All
      • 114 rides
      • Last: Apr 28, 2018

      Photos

      more »
      57 |
      Jul 4, 2020 @ 7:16pm
      Jul 4, 2020
      59 |
      Jul 4, 2020 @ 7:16pm
      Jul 4, 2020
      48 |
      Jul 4, 2020 @ 7:16pm
      Jul 4, 2020
      64 |
      Jul 4, 2020 @ 7:16pm
      Jul 4, 2020

      Routes with this trail

      titledistance
      Christian Camp to Arcadia28 miles
      Long Angeles Loop28 miles
      Valley Forge/Gabrielino/Sturtevant20 miles

      Reviews / Comments

      No reviews yet, be the first to write a review or ask a question.
      Use trail reports to comment on trail conditions.


      We hope you've been enjoying Trailforks!

      Create a FREE account to view trail comments and much more.

      Create a Free Account

      Videos

      more »
      youtuber Sturtevant Trail - Mt. Wilson - Altadena, CA
      28:55 | 946 | Oct 7, 2018 , Altadena
      STURTEVANT : MTB
      42:10 | 83 | Apr 16, 2022 , Altadena

      Nearby Trails

      Los Angeles County

      • By BlazeNawaY & contributors
      • #34077 - 5,110 views
      • subscribe
      • flag
      • login to download gpx or kml files.