Angeles Crest Highway Road Guide: Plant Communities

How to Use This Table

The table lists the plant communities along the Angeles Crest Highway, otherwise known as State Route 2 (SR2), from the I-210 at La Cañada to SR138 at Mountain Top Junction in San Bernardino County.

The column Odo is the odometer reading in your car beginning at the turn onto the Highway from Interstate 210 in La Cañada.

MM is the reading on the white mile marker at the edge of the road. Mile markers do not begin with zero at the turnoff, but farther southwest in the city of Santa Monica where State Route 2 begins.

Elev is elevation in feet, read from CalTrans signs, if available; otherwise from the USGS topographic maps.

Feature are turnouts, trailheads and picnic areas where you can stop and observe the plants. Road junctions are also listed because they are easy to find. A note is made whether the parking is on the right or left. Parking on the left requires a turn across traffic, and is generally not recommended. Instead, stop at those locations on the return trip or if beginning from Wrightwood.

Slope is the direction the mountainside faces. For example, if you stopped at Switzer Picnic Area and looked at the mountainside across SR2, you would be facing north looking at chaparral on a south-facing slope. Then, if you walked to the edge of the parking lot and looked down to the bottom of the canyon, you would see the trees that are part of the riparian woodland lining the streambed.

Plant Communities are the assemblages of dominant plants, usually trees, you are likely to see at a given stop. These are covered in much greater detail in the companion pages about Plant Communities of the San Gabriel Mountains. Links to pictures of the different communities and plants therein can be found on the individual plant community pages.

Variations When the plant community changes, the dominant trees or shrubs are listed. When a certain tree is no longer seen, it is marked with a minus sign like "-Coulter pine". Conversely, when a new tree or shrub begins to appear, it is marked with a plus sign like "+Jeffrey pine". Sometimes special features like wildflowers are listed. Although there appears to be a lot of montane forest, it is far from uniform and some of its many variations are noted in this column.

Look at the profile below for an overview of how the plant communities change with elevation and slope aspect (whether they face toward the coast, sunny, or toward the desert, shady).

The Table

Elevation and Plant Communities Profile on ACH
 
Odo MM Elev Feature Slope Plant CommunityVariations
0.0 24.54 1400 I-210 all urban 
2.5 27.00 2020 ANF boundary all foothill woodlandwalnut
2.7 27.20 2080 Turnout with view of Los Angeles Basin, on right all coastal sage scrubbuckwheat, white sage
3.1 27.40 2400 Angeles Crest Station, on left all coastal sage scrub +mountain mahogany, deerweed
Cross Section of Plant Communities of the Arroyo Seco near CCC Ridge
6.1 30.20 2920 CCC Ridge trailhead, on right southcoastal sage scrub 
north chaparralmanzanita, ceanothus, yucca
8.2 32.60 3640 Clear Creek Vista, on left all chaparral +scrub oak
9.2 33.80 3648 Jct: Angeles Forest Highway all chaparral 
9.6 34.14 3520 Switzer Picnic Area, on right south chaparral 
bottomriparian white alder, canyon oak, bigleaf maple, California bay tree
9.9 34.50 3480 Colby Canyon trailhead, on left south chapparal 
Cross Section of Plant Communities of the Upper Arroyo Seco
13.0 37.60 4400 Turnout; view of upper Arroyo Seco, on right north low elev montane forestbigcone spruce, canyon oak
13.7 38.38 4666 Red Box; Jct: Mt. Wilson Road, on right north low elev montane forest 
15.8 40.41 4600 Turnout; view of West Fork and Mt. Wilson, on right north low elev montane forest 
17.9 42.60 4800 Jct: Barley Flats Rd, Upper Big Tujunga Rd, on left south chaparral 
18.6 43.30 4880 Shortcut Saddle, on right both chaparral 
21.3 46.00 5111 Turnout; view of Big 4 peaks, SG Wilderness east mid elev montane forestCoulter pine, canyon oak
Plant Communities of the Charlton Flat-Chilao Recreation Area
22.8 47.50 5393 Charlton Flats Picnic Area, on left north mid elev montane forest+Jeffrey pine, incense cedar
25.8 50.50 5280 Devils Canyon trailhead on right, parking on left east mid elev montane forest 
25.9 50.60 5300 Chilao Visitor Center, on left north mid elev montane forest 
26.3 50.93 5303 Newcomb's Inn, on left north mid elev montane forest 
28.1 52.80 5911 Three Points trailhead; Jct: Santa Clara Divide Road, on left south mid elev montane forest-Coulter pine
29.5 54.02 6200 PCT Xing, parking on right south mid elev montane forestdry form: mostly Jeffrey pine
31.2 56.97 6720 PCT Xing, parking on left south mid elev montane forest dry form: mostly Jeffrey pine
32.3 57.10 7018 Cloudburst Summit north high country montane forestJeffrey pine, sugar pine, white fir, canyon oak, incense cedar
32.6 57.50 6940 Mt. Waterman Ski Area north high country montane forest 
33.0 57.70 6920 Turnout; Buckhorn Peak trailhead, on left north high country montane forest 
33.3 58.00 6791 Buckhorn-Mt. Waterman Trailhead on right, parking on left north high country montane forest 
Cross Section of the Plant Communities of Buckhorn Flat
33.4 58.25 6740 Buckhorn Campground entrance, on left north high country montane forest 
34.5 60.10 6800 Snowcrest Ski Area, formerly Kratka Ridge, on right north high country montane forest 
35.9 60.50 6840 Vista Picnic Area on right north high country montane forest 
36.9 61.60 6600 Eagle's Roost Picnic Area, PCT parking, on right north high country montane forestplanted ash and black locust
37.7 62.40 6740 Mt. Williamson trailhead, on left north high country montane forestdry form, mostly Jeffrey pine
38.7 63.50 6800 Jarvi Memorial Vista, on right south high country montane forestmany labeled plants
Cross Section of Plant Communities between Islip and Dawson Saddles
39.2 64.10 6660 Islip Saddle, PCT parking lot on left, closed SR 39 on right saddle high country montane forest 
40.6 65.50 6980 Mt. Islip, Little Jimmy Spring trailhead, on right north high country montane forest 
42.7 67.60 7561 Best snow-melt gully for wildflowers; desert view north high country montane forest 
44.5 69.60 7903 Dawson Saddle; parking for Throop Peak trailhead; view of Mojave Desert and Pinyon Ridge, on left north high country montane forest +lodgepole pine, limber pine on highest peaks
45.4 70.60 7720 Dorr Canyon; desert views, geology, on right north high country montane forest 
Cross Section of Plant Communities on Manzanita Trail
49.8 74.80 6565 Vincent Gap, PCT parking on right saddle high country montane forest+ bigleaf maple, willows, berries
51.3 77.30 7200 Grassy Hollow Visitor Center, on left south high country montane forestdry form: mostly Jeffrey pine
Cross Section of the Plant Community of Lightning Ridge
52.2 78.20 7360 Lightning Ridge and PCT parking on left; Blue Ridge Road, Inspiration Point Parking on right north high country montane forest+black oak, wildflowers
53.9 79.90 6862 Big Pines south high country montane forest +black oak, willows
54.8 80.80 6560 Mountain High East east high country montane forest 
56.3 82.30 5931 Los Angeles/San Bernardino County Line; Wrightwood east high country montane forest 
bottomriparian woodlandexcellent fall color
58.2 SB0.00 5800 Lone Pine Canyon Rd east suburban 
60.5 SB2.30 5200 Desert Front Rd north pinyon-juniper woodland 
61.0 SB5.00 5000 ANF boundary north Joshua tree woodlandspring wildflowers

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Copyright © 2000 by Jane Strong and Tom Chester.
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Comments and feedback: Jane Strong | Tom Chester
Updated 2 May 2000