Little Jimmy Springs

Nearby Guides

Viewed 2339 times

(0 votes)

Difficulty: Moderate
Length: 7.0 miles / 11.3 km
Duration: Half day

Family Friendly • Dog Friendly

Download to Phone

View Large Map

View Photos

Overview: Little Jimmy Springs is about 7 miles long and located near Azusa, California. The trail is part of several trails available in the Crystal Lake Recreation Area and great for hiking and normally takes a half day or less. The trail is pretty much easy to follow and well maintained as you can see signs throughout the trail and the park rangers also put up some rocks on the sides of the trail.

As you arrived in Crystal Lake Recreation Area, you can stop by the park ranger station and pick up the map of the trail to help you during the hike and probably get some information from the park ranger on duty regarding the condition of the trail, warnings, and weather that day(Don't forget to put up your adventure pass in your car).

Across from the park ranger station is the Crystal Lake Cafe. I didn't go in, but you can drop by and get some food and or water if you need to.

You can actually set up your tent along the trail (if you are planning on camping) as long as you're not blocking the trail for other hikers. But again, I would prefer to just hike to the top and camp in Little Jimmy Trail Camp on top where you can get some cell phone reception signal, grill at the camp site, restroom, and great, great views.

Other than the trails, you can drive back the way you come in, and turn right on the junction (see the map you got from the park ranger station for detail detail and head to the Crystal Lake) It's open from 6am to 6pm, and you can go fishing in the lake. NO SWIMMING ALLOWED though.

Tips: Location: Crystal Lake
Things to bring: GPS, Map, sunblock, enough water for half day hike
When to go: June - October
What to Wear: shorts/pants and thin layer clothes. Thick Jacket if you are plannnig to hike in Fall or Winter
What to Watch: take your time in some sections where it has scramble rocks
Tips on Getting there: From Highway 39, turn left on west fork in San Gabriel River. Just follow the course of the road heading North for 10 to 15 Miles before you see two junctions (1st left is heading toward Highway 2, 2nd left is heading to the lake). Turn right on both Junctions to get to the parking area near the park ranger station.

Points of Interest

map

Park Ranger Station

map

Head Trail Windy Gap Trail

Heading north from outside the park ranger station, you have to walk about .5 miles in a paved road to get to the head trail called "Windy Gap Trail". In the sides of the paved road are the camping ground location.

map

1st Junction

Walk straight across the road to follow the trail.

The first part of the Windy Gap Trail (approximately 1.4 miles) is quite easy and cool because lots of shades from the forest trees. As you go further, there will be less shades, and you will notice burned trees which was caused by the huge wildfire back in 2002 in Angeles National Forest.

map

Burned Trees

Notice for Burned Trees throughout the hike

map

2nd Junction

The second part of the Windy Gap Trail (approximately 1.1 miles) is where the hike becomes more challenging for it's getting steeper with the zigzag and only a few small shades from the sun. Take your time to rest in the shade and take some pictures with your camera/phone as it has great views. Also be very careful in some of the trail where it has scramble rock and can become slippery.

map

Three Way Junction

After about 1.1 miles, you'll be at the Windy Gap 3 ways junction. In the east direction is the Pacific Crest Trail. In the north direction is the other two trails, the left one is heading to the Mt. Islip and the right one is the one heading to the Little Jimmy Springs (approximately .3 miles).

map

Signs to the Little Jimmy Springs

Little sign showing you to go down to the right to get into the Little Jimmy Springs

map

Little Jimmy Springs

This is it!!! If you are planning on camping, you can get the water from here, but I recommended to use the water filter and/or purification system to clean the water for drink.

To return, you can go back the same way you come or use the Islip Ridge Trail (1.7 miles) and Big Cienega Trail (2.1 miles) to make it a loop and heading down the first part of the Windy Gap Trail

map

Little Jimmy Trail Camp

The little loop trail that I did and it's in my gps log is actually the loop that we did to get to the Little Jimmy Trail Camp. If you are planning on camping. you can head north from Little Jimmy Spring and you can camp on the site called Little Jimmy Trail Camp. I saw a few people did actually camp and I also got some cell phone reception in some of the area at the site. It has grill, bunch of tables and chairs, restroom, and to me it's very secluded compare with the camp ground the Crystal Lake. I would highly recommend if you are planning on camping to get up at dawn and hike to the top of Mt. Islip which is only about 1.5-2 miles from the campground to see the sunrise. For sure, I will come back to this hiking trail and do that.

map

Back in 2nd Junction

Note: Make sure that on your way back that you take the trail that is heading south in this junction(See gps log for the detail). Me and my friend missed it while talking and just followed the road towards the west which is the Forest Service road and had to walk back and get back to the right trail. If you