Reviewed by: The-Poodle , from La Crescenta

Summary:
I'm not sure the initial reviewer has the right trail here, but the directions are correct. This trail is a good choice in the summer since a lot of it is in either a deep ravine or on the north facing slope (lots of shade), not to mention that its usually above the smog. I ride this quite a lot for my workout mainly because there are so few people on the road. In fact, I see more rattlers and deer here than people. In the winter, the portions of the road on the backside get some snow which can stay for days, so it gets kind of cold/warm crossing back and forth across the ridge line. On a clear day the Peak (Mt Lukens) offers some of the best ocean views in L.A. The view to the north is great as well, its all mountains and you can even catch a glimpse of the southern Sierra. If you want to do a point to point, then Haines Canyon or the lower Big Tujunga Canyon are both logical drop/park sites. The reverse route is a significantly harder ride, since the Haines road has not been scraped in a few years. I gave this a 4 only because its a quiet longish ride with lots of shade in the afternoon and it's close to LC.

Recommended Route:
For the easiest ride; Angeles Crest ranger station (you need a wilderness permit-Ive gotten a ticket there)to Mt Lukens (check out the tee-pee on the way). For those HC hill lovers take either Earl Canyon or Haines Canyon to the top. Other routes are there too, ie GrizFlats, but thats another ride.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
For a real workout and a lot of sun try Earl Canyon Mtrway at the top of Palm in La Canada. This could be the steepest continuous road in the area. In the winter the angle and rain ruts make the uphill portion quite technical (about 7 miles to the top of Lukens).

Reviewed by: Marty , from Cal State LA

Summary:
If your in good shape you can make it to the top of the mountain. The ascent is not very bad at the beginning, the switch backs make for a nice climb. The down hills are fun and can be fast if you don't watch it.

Recommended Route:
I just road this Mar 17. Make sure you take the right road in the beginning. Once you get to the first intersection about 3 miles up make sure you take the road going up and to the right. The other road is Earl road and it goes down to some street. The other road buzz was talking about is Grizzly road. It makes for a nice loop. Part way down this road is that another intersection, and here is were you need to go to the right and up a bit. The road that goes down, i believe, goes down into the valley and not the the highway.

Reviewed by: buzz , from glendale

Summary:
Not scenic, but a good workout without being unpleasantly strenuous. The downhill's kinda fun. Also, it's usually not crowded.

Recommended Route:
You can take an alternate route coming down. About 2 miles from the top, you can turn off and take another fire road down. I have no idea what it's called. There is a 4-way intersection, so make sure to take the road that goes slightly uphill. I just made this mistake a couple of hours ago; you DON'T want to take the wrong road. Then it ends on Angeles Crest Highway a couple miles above the fire station you started from. You can coast back down to your car from there.