Distance: Basic Hike = 8.4 mi. RT
Max elevation change = 1000 ft.
Directions to Trailhead: Exit the 210 freeway at Lincoln Ave. and continue north into Altadena. Turn right (east) at Loma Alta Dr. and proceed half a mile to the blinking light at Chaney Trail. Turn left and follow Chaney Trail to its end (past our usual parking place), and park in the Millard Campground parking lot near the locked entrance to Brown Mountain Fire Road (1800 ft.). There are restrooms at Millard Campground.
The Hike: Proceed 1.1 miles up the fire fire road, past Millard Camp, to a junction on the ridge between Millard and El Prieto Canyons (2020 ft.). Turn left and hike down the trail .25 mile to a locked yellow gate. A few feet past the gate turn right down the trail into El Prieto Canyon bearing right at the next trail junction (1980 ft.) then following the main trial that will eventually curl left up onto Brown Mountain Fire Road. Turning right down the fire road at this point will return you to the junction (2020 ft.) and the trailhead. This version of the hike will get you 3.2 miles - Option 1.
By turning left and proceeding upward on the Brown Mountain Fire Road, you’ll soon spot, about a mile ahead, the “piney” gap between El Prieto and Fern Canyons. This junction and flat spot (2390 ft.) is a good terminus for many. From the gap, returning to the trailhead down the fire road will result in a hike of 5.8 miles with 900 feet of gain - Option 2.
Crossing the gap, continue west then south down the fire road toward JPL. At 3.1 miles and 1100 ft. below the “piney” junction, the road drops into the canyon to the stream (1310 ft.). At this point turn left and follow the canyon, stream, and trail upward past the trail junction (1980 ft.) back to the fire road. Turn right to return to the trailhead resulting in a hike of 8.4 miles - Option 3.
For you history buffs from “Trails of the Angeles,” “The “Brown Boys” – Owen and Jason – were familiar figures in and around the foothills of the front range back in the 1880s. These long bearded sons of the fiery pre-Civil War abolitionist John Brown lived in a small log cabin near the head of El Prieto Canyon, a beautiful wooded glen between the Arroyo Seco and Millard Canyon.
Google Earth photo - Millard and El Prieto Canyons
GPS Data:
Option 1 = 3.1 mi. RT, max elevation change = 380 ft.
Option 2 = 5.9 mi. RT, max elevation change = 910 ft.
Option 3 = 8.4 mi RT, max elevation change = 1085 ft.
