Mt Wilson Toll Road Trail

If you like WIDE dirt road trails, then this is definitely the trail for you!
The entire trail is a 12 foot wide dirt road. In 1907 the original road was widened to 10 feet to transport the 60 inch telescope to the top of Mt Wilson. Then in 1912 the road was widened to 12 feet for the 100 inch telescope. The road was originally built by the Pasadena and Mount Wilson Toll Road Company. This Toll Road trail is an 18 mile round trip with a gradual incline of around 4,100 feet of elevation gain, summiting on Mt Wilson at 5,710 feet. On this hike you will not gasp for air as you might on the higher elevation mountain hikes. But you will have to share the trail with bicyclers. This is a nice trail, but I would rather be on a narrow trail navigating the switchbacks… hence the 3 stars.
The 2260 Pinecrest Drive, Altadena, Ca. 91 001 address will take you right to the mailbox in front of a huge barbed wire gate in front of the trailhead. There is no long term parking on Pinecrest Drive, so park on the residential Crescent Drive then walk up Pinecrest Drive up the hill about 50 yards to the gate. The gate is unlocked at 6am every day and locked back up at sunset, so don’t be late. The other alternative is to park at the Eaton Canyon Nature Center and hike up the smaller trail one mile to the Toll Road trail. I parked on Crescent Drive, at the corner of Pinecrest Drive, so all of my mileages are from the gate at the trailhead.
In less than a quarter of a mile you cross a bridge. At the far end of the bridge there is a trail that goes underneath and to the north to the Eaton Canyon Falls. This will be for another day. Along the Toll Road you will come across four park benches that offer a place to rest as you take in the great view of the city. These benches were donated by the Boy Scouts. 2.7 miles from the trailhead you reach Henninger Flat Campground at 2,630′. At four miles, there is a small trail that takes off to the left, down and across a wooden bridge that becomes the Idlehour Trail. Again, for another day, so I continued up the wide trail where you reach the Winter Creek Trail junction at 8 miles. The smaller Winter Creek Trail to the right comes up from Chantry Flat. From this junction, head up the wide trail for a half mile. When you see the cement vault to the left
look to the right for the small trail that takes you up the last 0.7 miles to the Mt Wilson summit. When you reach the parking lot, head up the stairs to the Cosmic Café that is open only on Saturday and Sundays from 10am till 5pm, April 1^st through Nov 3oth. From the Café, head northeast across the upper parking lot towards the 150 foot Solar Telescope. Follow the Sturtevant Trail sign to the east to the Echo Rock viewpoint for an AWESOME view! You will also find the Sturtevant Trailhead that will take you to Chantry Flat. Next time, I will come up this trail from Chantry Flat and go down Winter Creek to complete the loop.