Sunset Peak - San Gabriel Mountains, CA

Overview
Sunset Peak (elevation of 5,799 feet) is one of the lower elevation "front peaks" in the San Gabriel Mountains. Sunset Peak offers great views of the high-elevation peaks in the San Gabriel Mountains as well as the valley below.


Topo maps list the elevation as 5,796 feet; however, LiDAR data added 3 feet to the elevation.Prologue
The route described in this guide follows a wide forest road all the way from the trailhead to the summit. This is not the shortest route to the top, but it is the easiest.

Hike
From the trailhead near Cow Canyon Saddle, the hike follows the Sunset Ridge Fire Road (also known as the Sunset Ridge Trail) all the way to the summit. The wide trail has a nice dirt surface with very few rocks, and it has some long, loopy switchbacks that provide a fairly gentle grade throughout.

In the first part of the hike, the trail parallels Glendora Ridge Road, and as you get closer to the summit, there are some long, loopy switchbacks. There is a saddle after about 3.2 miles, where you make a 180-degree turn to the left and loop around to the summit from the north.

Until recently, there were a substantial number of large pine trees on the slopes of Sunset Peak along the hike route. However, after the Bridge Fire of 2024, about all that is left of the trees are tree skeletons. There is likely to be some deadfall in the coming years.

The summit has nice views, including those of Mount Baldy to the north and Thunder Mountain/Telegraph Peak to the east. There are footings from a fire tower at the summit. The fire tower was built in 1927, but it was razed in 1974 when smog became so bad that the tower was no longer helpful in spotting fires.

After enjoying the views at the summit, return to the trailhead the way that you came up.

2026-04-28 DixieFlyer