Upper Chilao To Horse Flats

This review applies to the mountain biking aspects of the trails surrounding Chilao Flats in the vicinity of the Angeles National Forest.
I was able to download a gps trail from a mountain biking site & make my way to the Angeles National Forest from San Diego. The trails that I took consisted of portions from Chilao Flats and Silver Moccasin. From a mountain biking standpoint, I would rate this area as a nice place to visit & certainly a good way of introducing some variety to your ride routine if you have not been here before. To get maximum enjoyment, my recommendation would be to take the fire roads up to the top of Silver Mocasin and then make your descent back down the single track trails– giving you a good mixture of riding terrain. I had a fun time here overall.

The Upper Chilao campsite can be reached by taking the Angeles Crest Highway deep into the Angeles National Forest. There are two entrances to the general Chilao area. Pass the first one and pass the Devil’s Canyon Trailhead sign too. You can be sure you will reach Upper Chilao when you pass by the Visitor Information Center which was closed when we came.
The area is beautiful. It is pine country and Upper Chilao itself is heavily wooded. From Upper Chilao you take part of the Silver Moccasin Trail up to Horse Flats. The beginning of the trail is really nice. Nicely wooded with pine trees. Even though the hike is uphill all the way to Horse Flats it is not too heavy. It takes less than an hour to get to Horse Flats. The middle part of the way up gets a little deforested. Mostly chaparral but there are always beautiful pine trees around. From the middle part you can begin to see the ravages of the Station Fire if you look towards Los Angeles. It’s sad to see all those dead pine trees. The last leg of the trail to Horse Flats is nicely wooded and you begin to get closer and closer to the Mt. Hillyer area where you can see beautiful rock formations scattered throughout the pine forest. There are signs with mileage on them from point A to Point B here. You will know when you get to Horse Flats as well when you hear the horses. Which is one of the defects of the trail — there is horse excrement on the trail but not too much really. There aren’t more bugs along the trail because of the horses. Bring bug repellent if you like but in my opinion it’s not really necessary since I got no bites and all the bugs do is hover around your head. Repellent won’t stop that anywhere.
Since we got to Horse Flats in less than an hour we decided to try part of the Mt. Hillyer Trail. This trail is as gorgeous as it gets in the Angeles Crest Forest. There are really nice rock formations along the Mt. Hillyer Trail. A plus to our hike was that we were alone most of the day. On the way back we had to let some mountain bikers go downhill. Other than that complete solitude!
I give our hike five stars because it is not too far from Los Angeles and you get scenery comparable to Big Bear and Mt. San Jacinto. The only defect is that there is no stream alongside the trail and there is no waterfall to get to. If you enjoy solitude, mountain views, pine trees and rock formations this is the trail for you!!!